this nature must never happen again". Racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks defended Inverdale as a "brilliant broadcaster" who "must not be hounded out of the BBC by Maria Miller". He asserted: "The [horse] racing industry should take this opportunity to embrace and support Inverdale. God only knows how many fans he has created with his enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge." In a joint interview with Bartoli the following year, as promotion for ITV Sport's 2014 French Open coverage, Inverdale said he believed Miller's intervention, ten days after the original incident, was likely politically motivated and part of an anti-BBC agenda. Bartoli said: "I'd known John a long time, and I knew what he was trying to say. At the end of the day I am a tennis player, I know I'm not 6ft tall, I'm not the same long, lean shape as Maria Sharapova, but the beauty of tennis is that anyone can win, tall or short. Something the press took to be negative to me was a positive... In my mind it was never really a story." 2016 Summer Olympics Inverdale received "intense criticism" while presenting the BBC's coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He and his co-host, Olympic rower Steve Redgrave, were seen to have "clashed" several times on television, with Redgrave allegedly being afforded little opportunity to speak. The talkative Inverdale called Redgrave Oddjob, the silent Bond villain as a reference to Redgrave's quiet personality. This led to negative social media commentary of Inverdale. Redgrave was observed directing jibes toward Inverdale, shaking a wet umbrella over his head and even walking off the set. The BBC denied any hostility between the two. Following the men's tennis gold medal final, Inverdale congratulated Andy Murray on being the first tennis player to win two gold medals; although Murray is the first player to lift two singles golds, Serena and Venus Williams had previously won four golds each between singles and doubles tennis. Inverdale's comment was criticised as sexist and also brought the 2013 Marion Bartoli controversy back to the fore on social media. The BBC stated that the comment was "a simple error". Following the incident, Telegraph journalist Rob Bagchi wrote a piece titled "Why does everyone hate John Inverdale?", in which he defended Inverdale and suggested that critics were enjoying "the vicarious thrill in a sustained pile-on". The article was shared on Twitter by broadcaster Jeremy