Mansplainers told this Olympic champion how to hold a gun and were shot down in flames
To the Olympics, where Vitalina Batsarashkina won the gold medal in the women’s shooting 10 metre air pistol competition for the Russian Olympic Committee.
The reason we mention it is because of the legion of mansplainers who took upon it themselves to point out on Twitter exactly how she should be holding a gun (and where the, er, Olympic champion was going wrong).
It began when a woman called Zoe – @Blankzilla – shared this picture of the gold medal winner in action.
I am obsessed with the stance on this sharpshooter pic.twitter.com/DagufxorxL
— Zoe! That’s Me! (@Blankzilla) July 26, 2021
And here are just a few of the things men had to say about it.
I bet she missed a lot of her shots.
Sounds like the guy who turned his papers 10 min into the testing session.
Some thought he was a genius, but we later found out he just didn’t know how to solve the problems.
True story, btw.
— Umed Saidov, CFA 🇺🇸 (@RealSaidov) July 27, 2021
Does it look cool? Yes.
Will their wrist shatter the moment they fire? Absolutely.
— Prof. Wren (@WillRennar) July 27, 2021
People who won’t survive on the battlefield
— 🔞Jonhy❗🔞(comms closed) (@JonhySharko) July 27, 2021
And they weren’t the only ones either. Far from it.
The replies on this tweet, from men saying an Olympic athlete is doing her sport wrong, are bordering on parody. Something tells me she knows what she is doing, my guys https://t.co/4Ro1qxe1Gm
— Kelly Ellis (@justkelly_ok) July 27, 2021
Fortunately there was no shortage of other people around only too happy to put them right.
When you’re shooting as precisely as that, your heartbeat throws off your aim. So they stand as relaxed as possible and still maintain a firm stance. You won’t see that among tacticool dorks in the US.
The heartbeat thing is why the biathlon is awesome.
— Hungry Hungry HIPAA (@joedobner) July 26, 2021
Dude it’s an air pistol
— Kevly (@Kevly_) July 26, 2021
Good to see nothing’s changed in 109 years pic.twitter.com/fgROfmIID9
— Quiet (@ennuiposting) July 26, 2021
It’s almost as if shooting an air pistol to millimeter precision is different than aiming for center mass in a situation where you are also a target.
— Sunni Labeouf (@medved_bjj) July 26, 2021
Gun “experts” when they explain how this air pistol has wrist-shattering recoil pic.twitter.com/V74lXfXfCa
— Vas ♞ (@BucketVas) July 27, 2021
She looks far more casual and is far more talented than me but it’s how all the cool kids do it. And no, air pistol or .50 caliber percussion pistol, it does not “break your wrist” as some are saying. 😂 pic.twitter.com/TIKVEK3WDX
— Brian Beck (@BJamesBeck) July 27, 2021
Yeah, but she’s a woman, so they have to correct her SOMEHOW!
— Claire (@findingmyshoes) July 27, 2021
And also this.
Ah, 10m AP. Not the most exciting event for spectators, but damn fun.
BTW, fun fact: Shooting competitions are one of the sports were women consistently have better scores than men.— Sebastian Gawker (@keepinitciviI) July 26, 2021
To conclude …
All the replies (mansplainers?) explaining how the silver and gold Olympic medalist competitive shooter is shooting wrong are just… pic.twitter.com/5HXBQQrnmR
— Matthew Parsons (@scandalon) July 27, 2021
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These two high jumpers agreeing to share gold is our favourite Olympics moment so far
Source Twitter @Blankzilla H/T Indy100