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Former University of Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler responded to unemployed media personality Keith Olbermann after Olbermann launched a personal insult at Wheeler on social media.
Olbermann responded in Wheeler and several other prominent activists, including Riley Gaines, Brooke Slusser and Stephanie Turner, spoke outside the courthouse in support of protecting women’s sports.
“It’s still about trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to make it in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post.
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Keith Olbermann weighed in on Ronny Jackson’s update. (Paul Drinkwater/NBC NewsWire)
Wheeler was one of the women’s college swimmers who had to compete and share a locker room with former University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championships. Wheeler, who was Gaines’ teammate at the time, also earned first-team All-SEC honors and is an SEC champion in the 800m free relay.
Wheeler provided a statement to Pak Gazette Digital in response to Olbermann’s attack, suggesting the pundit is an “angry old man” trying to stay relevant.
“When women refuse to stay silent, angry old men like Keith Olbermann lash out. That doesn’t bother me. This shows why this fight is important. We’re fighting for justice. He’s fighting to stay relevant,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler also responded to Olbermann in multiple X posts, downplaying his employment status and bragging about his own athletic accomplishments.
INSIDE THE SCOTUS HEARING WILL BE A INVISION POINT IN THE CULTURAL WAR OVER TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS
Kaitlynn Wheeler speaks before the United States Supreme Court in support of protecting women’s sports. (Courtesy of Kaitlynn Wheeler)
“You got fired… repeatedly, I might add. Making a career out of trolling women online is an… interesting career turn for an old creep. Meanwhile, we’re out here making a difference for girls. We’re not the same,” Wheeler wrote, then joked: “‘A lifetime wasted trying to make it in sports with no talent’ directed at an SEC champion and multiple-time All-American from a man FIRED from almost EVERY network he’s ever touched lol… “You’d know a thing or two about a wasted life.”
Several prominent athletes and sports activists defended Wheeler on social media against Olbermann.
Women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova told Olbermann that she was unfollowing him on X because of the comment.
“Really? Kaitlynn is right, but you turn it into a nasty personal attack. How embarrassing, Keith. With this kind of attack you are no different from the other side… Unfollow…” Navratilova wrote.
Wheeler’s teammate Gaines noted that Olbermann does not have a wife or children.
“A 70[-year-old] Loner with no wife or children, who spends his time obsessively targeting college-age women online. What a miserable existence! “I don’t envy you, but I pray for you,” Gaines wrote.
Former Team USA women’s ultrarunner Carilyn Johson suggested that Olbermann is “mentally ill.”
“I used to think Keith Olbermann was just a misogynist. Now I think he’s a mentally ill misogynist. Saying something like this to a former SEC champion athlete [Wheeler] is deranged,” Johnson wrote.
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(Left) Keith Olbermann, host of “Countdown,” during “Decision 2010” on November 2, 2010. (Right) (Virginia Sherwood/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images; Courtesy of Kaitlynn Wheeler)
Kim Jones, co-founder of the Independent Council for Women’s Sports (ICONS), wrote “You dig your own grave,” in response to Olbermann.
Former University of Arizona swimmer Marshi Smith, the other ICONS co-founder, wrote “Who is this old grump?”
