The Olympic Games organization’s blooper in the presentation of the Argentine Macarena Ceballos in the semifinal of the 100 meters breaststroke

The Olympic Games organization’s blooper with the Argentine Macarena Ceballos

Macarena Ceballos made history at Paris 2024: she became the first Argentine swimmer to qualify for an Olympic semi-final after 20 years. She did so with a time of 1:06:89 in her series in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke: the last time an Argentine representative had reached this stage was in Athens 2004, when Georgina Bardach won the bronze medal in the 400-meter medley.

It was there that the 29-year-old athlete from Córdoba experienced an unusual moment. In the middle of the presentation before diving into the pool, the organization made a mistake by displaying the Chinese flag instead of the Argentine one behind her. This mistake caused outrage among both commentators and fans of the discipline.

“It wouldn’t be the flag of Argentina, the one behind, it’s the one of China. Maca looks back and laughs. She can’t believe it. The worst thing is that there are no Chinese in the series, it’s not that they missed the flag,” said Gonzalo Bonadeo in the TyC Sports broadcast. Indeed, the swimmer was surprised to see the flag, but once she entered Paris La Défense Arena, the space with capacity for 17,000 spectators that hosts the discipline, she kindly greeted the public and the camera and concentrated on the event.

The blooper sparked a wave of complaints on social media, especially given the annoyance caused by the incidents suffered by the men’s soccer team in the defeat against Morocco, with the invasion of the field and the throwing of projectiles and stun grenades at the delegation. “SHAME! Macarena Ceballos was out to compete in the 100m breaststroke semi-finals and they put the Chinese flag on her. UNBELIEVABLE,” wrote @jusgarcia10 on X.

“It’s a shame how they are treating the Argentines in these Olympics. In the presentation when Macarena Ceballos entered, they put the Chinese flag instead of her own,” added @gkobttom. “The red color you see behind Macarena Ceballos is the Chinese flag; her face when she saw it was deadly, hahaha. Something happened there that left the images from the previous series. We remember that the only Chinese person competing in Argentina is Diego Simonet,” joked @CaroMitriani.

Maca then finished 15th overall in the semis, with a time of 1:07.31, and did not make it to the final, which made her frustrated. “I have a lot of feelings, I am happy to be here but very angry about the time, because I did not train for this. I did a very hard training to show something else, I don’t know what happened to me. We make a lot of sacrifices so that things do not go as planned,” she lamented to the station’s microphones.

She will have another chance at the Paris Games: on Wednesday 31 July she will take part in the qualifying rounds of the 200-metre breaststroke.

Macarena, in full action in the semi-final (EFE/ Lavandeira Jr)