Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice is in hot water after posting a homophobic slur on her Twitter page, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph of Sydney.

Rice, an Olympic gold medalist, posted a bit of trash talk after Australia's rugby team defeated South Africa on Saturday, tweeting "Suck on that f**gots."

Ian Roberts, a former Australian rugby player who is openly gay, responded by ripping Rice, saying "she is an idiot and anyone who continues to endorse her as an athlete is an idiot as well. ... And I say that with a very sad tone in my voice. What a fool."

According to the Telegraph, Rice removed the comment from her Twitter page and emailed an apology to the newspaper. "I made a comment on Twitter last night in the excitement of the moment.

"I did not mean to cause offence and I apologise. I have deleted it from the site."

Roberts responded to the apology by calling the comment "inexcusable," and telling the newspaper that it is "never acceptable to belittle gay people."

Rice, 22, won three gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and is the world record holder in the 400-meter individual medley.