Beijing Olympics snowboard analyst Max Hénault will no longer comment on the sport on Radio-Canada. His replacement is no stranger to the inappropriate comments he made on the air, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“Takeru Otsuka! What’s going on? A little too many dumplings…”, escaped Max Hénault during the final of the men’s snowboard slopestyle event on Sunday, after the performance of 20-year-old Japanese snowboarder Takeru Otsuka.
Several times during the weekend, he did not fail to pronounce the name of the athlete in an accent that wanted to imitate that of people of Japanese origin.
“Takeru Otsuka! I always liked it to pronounce his name, ”he launched on the air.
His comments don’t stop there.
“Wow! The little Chinese who is so impressive!” he exclaimed at the prowess of 17-year-old snowboarder Su Yiming, who represents the host country of the Beijing Games. The athlete also won second place.
Many were shocked by his analysis, which went beyond his mandate.
An experienced guy
Max Hénault is the founder of the Maximise center in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, in the Laurentians. He trains important snowboarding figures such as Laurie Blouin, Maxence Parrot and Sébastien Toutant.
So he understands snowboarding very well.
On social networks, many acclaimed his “colorful and refreshing” style. It is even said that he knows his sport as much as Alain Goldberg knows figure skating. It’s not nothing.
But now without fanfare, it is Alexis Caron-Côté who will replace him. He provided snowboard analysis at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.
Could Max Hénault’s inappropriate comments have gotten the better of his position as a snowboard analyst at the Beijing Olympics?
“Yes”, simply replied a source familiar with the matter.