Swimmer Stephanie Rice apologizes, seeks forgiveness for homophobic remark

SYDNEY - Triple Olympic swimming gold medallist Stephanie Rice made a tearful apology Wednesday for a homophobic slur she posted Saturday on Twitter.

Rice twice broke down in tears at a news conference she called in Sydney where she asked for forgiveness for her "thoughtless and careless" comment.

The 22-year-old Rice tweeted the derogatory remark after Australia's last-minute win over South Africa in a rugby union Test match at Bloemfontein.

Rice, who reportedly is dating Australia fly half Quade Cooper, later deleted the tweet and apologized, saying she didn't mean to cause offence. She said she called Wednesday's news conference because she felt a public apology was also necessary.

"I owe it to those who I have offended to publicly say, I am sorry. It is not me to give offence to other people no matter who they are," Rice said. "I am not a person who judges others or speaks in a way that hurts others.

"My comments were thoughtless and careless but I can assure you when I made those comments on Twitter I never intended to offend anybody."

Saturday's tweet cost Rice an endorsement contract with luxury carmaker Jaguar.

"I've learned a lot in the last couple of days," she said Wednesday. "I've learned I must think before I speak and this has been a very important lesson.

"I've also learned that some things you say can mean more to others than they do to you."

Rice said she hoped her apology would help her regain the public's trust.

"I felt I've let a lot of people down," she said. "I just want people to know how sorry I am.