Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice has been forced to apologise after an extraordinary outburst on Twitter.
Rice, 22, has been labelled a "complete idiot" following the offensive comments posted following the Wallabies' Tri-Nations rugby victory over South Africa on Saturday night.
"Suck on that f--gots," Rice tweeted."Probs the best game I've ever seen!! Well done boys."
The comment has since been removed.
"I made a comment on Twitter last night in the excitement of the moment," the Daily Telegraph reported Rice as saying when contacted yesterday.
"I did not mean to cause offence and I apologise. I have deleted it from the site."
Former NRL star and gay rights advocate Ian Roberts attacked the Queenslander's comments as "inexcusable".
"She is an idiot and anyone who continues to endorse her as an athlete is an idiot as well," the report quoted Roberts as saying.
"And I say that with a very sad tone in my voice.
"What a fool."
The scandal follows an emotional month for the Beijing triple-gold medallist.
Four weeks ago Rice broke down in tears while announcing a shoulder injury would force her out of next month's Commonwealth Games.
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