Hungarian rhythmic gymnastics coach Noemi Gelle was accused of making a racist hand gesture at the Olympic Games on Thursday.<br /><br />Gelle appeared on screen during television coverage of the women's rhythmic individual all-around event after the camera cut to gymnast Fanni Pigniczki.<br /><br />Both responded by waving at the camera before Gelle used her right hand to make a gesture similar to the 'ok' emoji.<br /><br />While the symbol is known by most people simply as the sign for 'ok', it has also been used in recent years as a 'sincere expression of white supremacy', according to the Anti-Defamation League. However, a statement by the ADL in 2019 said that 'particular care must be taken not to jump to conclusions about the intent behind someone who has used the gesture'.<br /><br />There is no evidence that Gelle was making a 'white power' sign and, likely, she was simply signaling her approval for Pigniczki, who had just finished her routine.<br /><br />Nevertheless, Gelle's hand gesture on Thursday gained a lot of attention online and multiple fans called for her to be banned.<br /><br />One comment via X: 'If this doesn't result in a ban...'<br /><br />Another read: 'There is no way to ignore it'. <br /><br />A third fan asked: 'Does anyone know how to report it????' <br /><br />Pigniczki placed 12th in Thursday's competition, meaning she narrowly missed out on a place in the 10-person final.<br /><br />Italy's Sofia Raffaeli, Germany's Darja Varfolomeev, and Bulgaria's Boryana Kaleyn were the top three performers on Thursday.<br /><br />Ukraine's Taisiia Onofriichuk and Germany's Margarita Kolosov were fourth and fifth on Thursday.<br /><br />Slovenia's Ekaterina Vedeneeva, Israel's Daria Atamanov, Brazil's Barbara Domingos, Italy's Milena Baldassarri, and China's Wang Zilu also qualified for the final.
