Mathias Lessort, who was born in Martinique, a French territory, displayed a Martinique flag after winning a silver medal in basketball. However, NBC announcer Mike Tirico mistakenly identified it as the Palestinian flag during the broadcast.
Lessort and the French national team lost to Team USA 87-98 in the final. As a proud representative of Martinique, Lessort carried the flag of his birthplace, officially recognized only in 2023 despite its long history.
The Martinique and Palestinian flags both feature a red triangle, but the Martinique flag lacks the white stripe present on the Palestinian flag, and the green and black stripes are positioned differently.
The ZUMA Press photo agency also incorrectly labeled the flag as Palestinian. Tirico later apologized on X (formerly Twitter) for the mistake and committed to correcting it during the primetime show.
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