Officials at the Paris Olympics have been forced to order large quantities of eggs and red meat following complaints about the vegan menu in the athletes’ village. They now face the challenge of keeping competitors cool as temperatures in the French capital soar in the coming days. Paris organizers wanted 60 percent of the food served in the Olympic Village to be vegan, which would reduce the carbon footprint of each dish to just one kilogram.

Taylor, 59, has faced widespread criticism along with Channel 9 after being appointed as a diving commentator for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Media veteran Tim Bailey, who has covered sports, weather and general news at Channel 10 for decades, reacted strongly to the move, even calling for the executive producer in charge to be fired.

“Mark Taylor calls it diving. Great cricketer. But a bit disrespectful to the athletes. Tubby probably knows nothing about the sport. He admitted that. The EP who made this decision? Your last one. #bellyflop,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The criticism was leveled at Taylor on Monday during an appearance on Hughesy, Ed and Erin, where he initially seemed unfazed by the negative reactions.

“Does that matter to you at all?” asked co-host Erin Molan.

Taylor replied, “No, not really.”

“I don’t follow the media that closely, especially social media, but I knew that when I said I was going to do this, there would be people, the negative ones, who would tell me not to do this.”

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Taylor recalls his daughter coming home from work as a teacher and someone parroting Bailey’s comment, describing Taylor’s remark as “disrespectful to the athletes”, which infuriated the former cricket star.

“I don’t accept that because I met all the athletes and they were all happy that I put my hand up to do it,” he told the hosts who unanimously agreed.

“And Sam Fricker is the expert, I’m not a diver. I’m there to do my job, which is to give you the scores, which is a bit like cricket. It’s not disrespectful, it’s absolute nonsense.”

Bailey’s comment about Taylor’s diving commentary was not an isolated one, as outraged users on social media criticised the cricket specialist’s appointment as a diver.

AAP sports reporter Oliver Caffrey compared the former cricketer’s comments to a “12th man bit”, while an X user accused Channel 9 of “making fun”.

“‘Sensational dive, that’ – Probably… Former Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor comments on the diving. Channel 9 is totally ripping off their Olympic team by giving jobs to boys and girls who don’t really belong there,” they wrote.

While the Olympic Games were full of competition on the field, there was also a lot of drama surrounding the commentators off the field.

EuroSport commentator Bob Ballard was sacked earlier this week after making a sexist comment about the Australian 4x100m freestyle relay team.

“Well, the women have just finished. You know how women are… hanging around, doing their make-up,” he said as Emma McKeon, Shayna Jack, Mollie O’Calloghan and Meg Harris left the Paris Aquatic Centre.

After being relieved of his commentary duties by EuroSport, Ballard broke his silence to apologise for his remark, but insisted he had not intended to offend the female athletes.

“The comments I made during the Australian freestyle relay on Saturday caused offence,” he said on social media.

“It was never my intention to hurt or disparage anyone and if I did, I apologize. I am a huge supporter of women’s sports.

“I will miss the Eurosport team tremendously and wish them all the best for the remainder of the Olympic Games.”