Elaine Thompson-Herah, an Olympic gold medalist in sprinting, was mistakenly blocked on Instagram, according to its owner, Facebook Inc.
Elaine Thompson-Herah, the world’s fastest woman, was blocked from Instagram on Tuesday after posting footage from her 100 and 200-meter races. However, after a few hours, her access to the app was restored.
Sharing material from the Games online is subject to severe copyright restrictions.
Elaine Thompson-Herah claimed on Twitter that she was barred from using her account because she “did not have the right to do so” when she uploaded footage.
While the material had been deleted, a Facebook representative informed Reuters that the suspension had been imposed incorrectly.
Athletes are not permitted to publish Olympic Games material including audio and video of the athletic event or medal presentation, according to IOC rules.
Because a limited number of broadcasters have exclusive rights to broadcast the Games, this is the case. Their rights include the ability to share their work on social media.
However athletes “are invited to share the content” posted by these broadcasters on their accounts, the IOC told Reuters.
Any material that violates these guidelines is promptly deleted.
The IOC is expected to earn more than $4 billion (£2.8 billion) in broadcasting rights for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The vast bulk of the funds are invested in the Games and the support of sports and athletes.
Thompson-Herah set a world record by winning both the 100m and 200m races. In the 200m, she ran 21.53 seconds, only 0.19 seconds slower than Florence Griffith-long-standing Joyner’s world record.
Thompson-Herah will participate in the 4x100m relay final on Friday.
