There are some unwritten rules of sports broadcasting, and publicly knocking a teenage athlete’s performance is high on the “don’t” list.
During the women’s 10,000m race walk at the U20 European Championships, British broadcaster Phil Minshull took a jab at 19-year-old Italian race walker Elisa Marini as she was being lapped.
Cool and appropriate for the old man with a microphone to belittle the efforts of the 18 year old girl on the track on her way to a PB. pic.twitter.com/ZxqFVYJHiH
— Evan Dunfee (@EvanDunfee) August 10, 2025
“Marini has been lapped. [Her speed] is down to the sort of pace my colleague Rob Walker and I could manage,” Minshull remarked on air.
Marini went on to finish eighth of eight in the final, clocking a personal best of 45:43, which is still an impressive 4:34/km pace, walking. It lowered her previous best by 12 seconds.
The comment quickly made its rounds on X, where Canadian Olympic medallist in the race walk, Evan Dunfee, called Minshull out: “Cool and appropriate for the old man with a microphone to belittle the efforts of the 18-year-old girl on the track on her way to a PB.”
Another user added, “He’s the worst. I don’t know why European Athletics keeps using him.”
Back-to-back. ✌️
Sofia Santacreu 🇪🇸 retains her European U20 10,000m race walk title! 🥇
And her winning time of 43:47.89 is a world U20 lead! 🌍 #Tampere2025 pic.twitter.com/x4BPuUC2Qp
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 9, 2025
Minshull has been a fixture on European Athletics broadcasts since 2017 and has covered the sport for more than two decades.
Spain’s Sofia Santacreu won gold in the race, setting a new U20 national record of 43:47.89
