Olympic coach accused of ‘s£xist’ remark about female gold medallist after he joked she needed to get a ‘really nice boyfriend’

An Olympic coach has been accused of sxism in his congratulatory speech about a Dutch speed skater. Femke Kok, 25, won gold in the 500m race at the Winter Olympics, and later on in the day, her trainer Dennis van der Gun, 47, was singing her praises in front of other members of the team.During his speech about Kok at the team HQ, he said: ‘I think I speak for everyone in the Netherlands, and I’m incredibly proud of you for what you’ve accomplished. ‘I was just thinking… You’ve now won 23 World Cups in a row, three world titles in a row, and now an Olympic title. I thought: “what more could you want? What doesn’t she have yet?” Well, there’s one thing she doesn’t have yet, and that’s a really nice boyfriend!’ The coach was reportedly booed in the crowd as he made the statement, but Kok laughed off the awkward joke. However, Van Der Gun was dragged online for what they saw as a cheap sexist jibe. One wrote: ‘No way that something like that would ever be said to a man’, while another added that ‘sexism is still not over in 2026.’ But Kok herself came out swinging in defence of her coach with a lengthy explanation of her feelings on Instagram. She wrote: ‘We had a great tribute in the team NL home of my GOLD medal! My coach Dennis has spoken a lot of kind words there. ‘Unfortunately, a joke that the team NL house and I found funny, was misinterpreted online. ‘Which really doesn’t make any sense and was just well intended. Unbelievable… ‘Dennis has a huge share in my gold medal and if there’s anyone with whom I feel completely comfortable and respected as a woman, it’s him. ‘Hes a great coach and human being. My night and everyone else’s in the Team NL house was amazing. Let’s be more friendly online and stop shouting things about people you don’t know. ‘I’m grateful to my coach for everything (even for all the sweet messages in my DM’s (this is a joke).’The post Olympic coach accused of ‘sxist’ remark about female gold medallist after he joked she needed to get a ‘really nice boyfriend’ appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.