Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah may be fast, but she could not outrun Instagram’s copyright policy.
The 29-year-old said she was “blocked” by Instagram, where she has over 310,000 followers, after sharing footage of her defending her gold in the 100m and 200m sprints at the Tokyo Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee said the removal of certain social media content is automatic due to the Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) owning exclusive rights to broadcast at the Olympic Games.
“This includes distribution on social media, where athletes are invited to share the content provided by the RHBs on their accounts but cannot post competition content natively,” the IOC told Reuters. “Should that occur, the removal of such content from social media platforms happens automatically.”
“I was blocked on Instagram for posting the races of the Olympic because I did not own the right to do so,” Thompson-Herah, where she has over 25,000 followers. “So see y’all in 2 days.”
Hours after her tweet, Thompson-Herah said the “block was cleared” in a post on her Instagram story.
Elaine Thompson-Herah of Team Jamaica reacts after winning the gold medal in the Women’s 200m Final. Getty ImagesFans have not seen the last of Thompson-Herah in Tokyo. She’s set to compete in the women’s 4×100 relay on Thursday. If Jamaica qualifies for the final, she’ll hit the track again on Friday.
Instagram temporarily blocked Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah for violating broadcast rights when she shared videos following her gold medal victories. REUTERSThompson-Herah won the 100m in record time (10.61 seconds) over the weekend, beating Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 100m record cemented since the 1988 Seoul Games — making her the fastest woman in the world. Thompson-Herah’s Jamaican teammates took over the podium in the 100m final, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce earning silver and Shericka Jackson nabbing the bronze medal.
