Journalist who outed athletes leaves Rio as IOC condemns article

It’s been reported that the disgraced journalist who wrote an article that inadvertently outed a number of gay Olympians has been recalled from Rio.

For his The Daily Beast piece last week about the use of dating apps by athletes at the Games, Nico Hines was accused of unethically pretending to be gay on Grindr to interact with his subjects.

He was also slammed for including details about closeted athletes that could allow them to be identified, potentially placing a number them in danger.

Despite the website’s editor’s ultimately apologising and pulling the article, a petition was launched demanding that Hines and The Daily Beast’s press credentials be revoked by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The campaign appears to have had some success. On Sunday, an IOC spokesperson told Outsports: “We understand the organisation concerned recalled the journalist after complaints and withdrew the story”.

The spokesperson added that, “This kind of reporting is simply unacceptable”. It was the first time that the IOC has addressed the issue.

The Daily Beast has not confirmed the news. And, despite becoming the subject a furious backlash on social media, Hines has not commented on the controversy at all on his Twitter account.

Critics pointed out removing article may have come too late for some athletes and that the damage could already have been done.