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Greg Evans

Clare Balding causes hysterics after asking Olympic swimmer about his ‘third leg’

Clare Balding triggered chuckles with her choice of words

(Picture: BBC/ Screengrab)

It’s very easy to slip into an accidental double-entendre, especially on national TV, and even veteran broadcasters like Clare Balding are guilty of it - as proven by what happened at the Olympics on Wednesday.

After Team GB won the men’s 4x200 metre relay in the pool in Tokyo, swimmers Tom Dean and Matthew Richards, who won the race along with James Guy and Duncan Scott were interviewed by Balding.

Unfortunately, the interview will probably live long in the memory for the wrong reasons as Balding made an accidental reference to Richards’ “third leg,” as in the third leg of the race, not you know what.

Balding said: “Matt, you’re 18 years old, it’s your first Olympics, and you swam — honestly, your third leg was just phenomenal.”

Neither Richards nor Dean could keep a straight face and briefly smirked but were able to maintain their composure which is probably good news for all involved.

Balding’s very minor but amusing slip-up didn’t go unnoticed though from viewers who pointed out the embarrassing moment on Twitter.

It’s a good job the Olympics only comes around every four (or should we say five years) otherwise we can imagine this type of thing would be happening all the time!

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