Female Olympic Cyclist Crashes, Fractures 3 Vertebrae, Mansplainer Thinks He Can Help

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio represent a coming-together of the best athletes in the world — people who have devoted their lives to perfecting the skills and techniques of their respective sports. But that doesn't stop internet strangers from offering their "helpful" suggestions for Olympic athletes, especially if those athletes happen to be women.

During Sunday's women's road race, Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten, who had been leading the race, lost control going around a turn and crashed. She was thrown over her handlebars and knocked unconscious, reported USA Today.

Later that day, van Vleuten, who sustained three fractured vertebrae and a concussion, tweeted that she was "in the hospital with some injuries and fractures, but will be fine" and expressed disappointment at a crash "after best race of my career."

That was when some random dude decided to respond with some biking advice, tweeting at the athlete, "first lesson in bicycling, keep your bike steady ... whether fast or slow."

It's a damn shame one Martin A. Betancourt wasn't available to dole out his golden advice before the race. Luckily plenty of people on Twitter were happy to call out this example of unhelpful mansplaining — which, sadly, is an all too common response to women on social media, no matter their area of expertise.

This isn't the only story of casual sexism to emerge from the Olympic games — on Saturday, NBC Olympic commentator Dan Hicks attributed swimmer Katinka Hosszu's record-breaking win to her husband and coach. 

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