[UPDATED] This Writer Catfished Gay Olympians in Rio on Dating Apps, Appears to Identify Some Also

Stories about hot hookups in (and around!) the athletes village at the Olympics are a mainstay of games coverage — look at all those hard, hot bodies, I mean, duh. And hoping to get a scoop on the sexy subject, Nico Hines, a reporter for the Daily Beast, published a piece that investigates (and possibly outs) gay Olympic athletes in an attempt to explore the dating scene Wednesday.

The article purports to answer one question: Can the average spectator score a date with an Olympic athlete? And really, who hasn't thought about that?! While on the ground in Rio, Hines explains he approached the project with a range of dating apps like Bumble and Tinder, but the article mostly focuses on Grindr, because that is apparently the app on which he had the most success.

Here's where things get tricky, since his angle seems to be less about the dating scene and more Hines's grappling with the sexuality of gay athletes, that they even want to have sex (!), and his belief that anyone should ... care?

"For the record," Hines writes. "I didn't lie to anyone or pretend to be someone I wasn't — unless you count being on Grindr in the first place." However, since the next sentence immediately clarifies that he's a straight male with a wife and kid, many, in fact, would count that. (It's also unclear exactly at what point in his conversations he chose to be upfront with his disclosure that he's a journalist and whether that disclosure included that he'd be writing a piece on his cruising.) He goes on to describe the diversity of those he saw on the app, with suitors from many different events, ranging from "a tall black guy with a perfect six-pack directly to a second perfect six-pack, this time belonging to a shorter white athlete." In the original piece, it would be possible without much work to identify more than one of the athletes he's alleged to have chatted with from the details provided (though these have since been edited out). These athletes are potentially not out publicly, and in some cases from countries in which discrimination against LGBT people is commonplace.

There are other quote-unquote surprises, such as one athlete wanting to meet up before 5:30 p.m. (scandalous!) or someone requesting a nude photo. That's how dating apps work?! All in all, Hines's observations seem misplaced; his findings are not out of the ordinary for modern dating, and that SEX is happening at an event filled with attractive folk all crammed into one area (many of whom are high on life/medal wins also) is to be expected — gay sex included.

The piece immediately faced a wave of backlash, including from Olympians themselves, including openly gay Tongan swimmer Amini Fonua, who took to Instagram to post of a photo of his bare butt, inviting the publication to "kiss it."

The Daily Beast's editor-in-chief John Avlon later added a note at the end of the piece acknowledging the edits made and offering a pseudo-apology:

A number of readers complained to The Daily Beast after the publication of the original iteration of this story. We take such complaints seriously because a central part of The Daily Beast's mission is to fight for full equality and equal treatment for LGBT people around the world. Publishing an article that in any way could be seen as homophobic is contrary to our mission.

Wherever you fall on the piece, here's the main takeaway: If you can hook up with an Olympian via a dating app ... good for you! That's all.

Update 8/12, 1:30 p.m.: The Daily Beast has since taken down the article, instead publishing anote from the editors that announced its removal, explaining that it did not "uphold a deep set of The Daily Beast's values."

Resource:cosmopolitan