Claim: International Olympic Committee bans Megan Rapinoe for life
A Facebook post (direct link, archived link) dated October 25 claims that a famous athlete has been permanently banned from one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
“The International Olympic Committee has issued a lifetime ban on Megan Rapinoe,” the post read.
It was shared more than 40 times in two days. A second version of the claim was shared more than 1,500 times.
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There is no evidence that the committee has issued any such sanction against Rapinoe, who retired at the end of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season. This claim has been made on a satirical website.
No evidence of ban on websites, social media accounts for Olympics or Rapinoe
There is no mention of any such restrictions on the committee’s website social mediaFrom accounts, or from a reputable news outlet. Rapinoe also did not mention any restrictions his account is activeWhich was earlier known as Twitter.
Rapinoe announced in July that she would retire at the end of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season. She competed in three Olympic Games throughout her career, helping the U.S. women’s soccer team win a gold medal in London in 2012 and a bronze medal in Tokyo in 2020.
Before appearing on Facebook, the claim about his alleged ban from the program was posted on a satirical website in August with a label indicating its serious origins.
A disclaimer on SpaceX Mania’s website says the labeled articles “are not meant to be taken seriously.”
The disclaimer reads, “These articles are intended to be humorous and often completely fabricated.” “We do not claim that the information presented in the articles is true or accurate.”
The outlet also told USA TODAY that the post was sarcastic.
fact check: Post claiming IOC life ban on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is satire
This is an example of what might be called “stolen satire”, where stories written and presented as satire are essentially reposted in such a way that they appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of second generation posts become misled, as happened here.
USA Today has previously rejected claims that Elon Musk banned Rapinoe from the X and that Rapinoe insisted on the American flag.
USA TODAY contacted the International Olympic Committee and the users who shared the post for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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