BBC cause fury over Andy Murray decision as British Olympic medal hopeful snubbed
The BBC chose to air Andy Murray's match
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Fans hoping to tune in for the men's individual 400m medley final featuring Great Britain's Max Litchfield were left furious when they found out Andy Murray's doubles match alongside Dan Evans was prioritised.
Sunday night at the iconic La Defense Arena was always going to be a superstar affair with the French crowd set to go wild for their home favourite Leon Marchand.
But there was also a real chance of Team GB securing their fourth medal of the Olympics with Litchfield qualifying second-fastest for the final.
The 400m medley was scheduled to start at 7.30pm, however the BBC opted to stick with showing the tennis live on TV with Murray and Evans in action in the doubles.
The BBC chose to air Andy Murray's match
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It looked as though the British pair were set to be knocked out, marking what would have been the end of Murray's career.
However, fans hoping to watch the swimming on TV were not happy with the decision to prioritise Murray's match.
One viewer fumed: "Dear @BBC, you've spent two days bigging up Adam Peaty and the swimming and now... you're sticking with the tennis on BBC1? There's no way tennis is more an engaging Olympic sport than swimming, no matter who is playing."
Another angrily posted: "@TeamGB swimmer Max Litchfield going for gold in the swimming but BBC obviously showing Murray in a first-round tennis match."
A third message read: "Can’t believe the BBC are staying with the Tennis whilst the swimming has started, boooooo…"
One other person furiously said: "Huge night of swimming at the Olympics and the BBC want to show f***ing tennis."
Another wrote: "Hey @BBC why are you showing Tennis on BBC1 and on BBC extra. What about the other sports. You don't need to show the same sport on both channels."
Murray and Evans ended up pulling off a remarkable comeback after facing five match points against Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel.
Max Litchfield finished fourth for the third consecutive Olympics
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The British doubles pair screamed in delight as they pulled off an unlikely win to reach the second round.
Soon after the match was finished, the BBC switched over their coverage to the La Defensa Arena but the 400m medley final had already taken place.
They instead aired a full replay of the race as Marchand romped home to victory to set a new Olympic record.
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Leon Marchand won gold with an Olympic record time
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It was far closer behind him as Matsushita Tomoyuki, Carson Foster and Litchfield battle for the silver and bronze medal positions.
Litchfield, who finished fourth in both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, once again agonisingly missed out on a medal.
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