So we have already have our first Olympic racism story

Following on the idiocy of numerous footballers, Olympic athletes have hopped on the Twitter racism bandwagon, leading to one Greek competitor being expelled today.

With this being the first Olympics in which Twitter has become a global phenomenon we expected there to be some stories emanating from the social platform.

And while we hoped they would all be funny live tweeting tales of transport chaos like Irish gymnast Kieran Behan’s exploits yesterday, we feared that the reality would be some ill-advised proclamations from some of the over 10,000 competitors.

So it came to pass as two days before the opening ceremony we already have the first racist tweet story. Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou has been expelled by her federation after tweeting the following ‘joke’: "With so many Africans in Greece, at least the mosquitoes of West Nile will eat home made food."

The message was deleted but not before it caused a storm and the Greek Olympic Committee said the comment was "contrary to the values ??and ideals of the Olympic movement" and expelled her.

Papachristou has since apologized in a statement: "I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.

"My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races.

"I would like to apologize to all my friends and fellow athletes, who I may have insulted or shamed, the National Team, as well as the people and companies who support my athletic career. Finally, I would like to apologize to my coach and my family."

It might be wise for all the athletes to just turn their phones off for the next fortnight.