I'm no homophobe, says tearful Rice

ANTHONY JOHNSON/Sun Herald

SORRY: Stephanie Rice wipes a tear away at her press conference.

Relevant offers

Other sports

Track tinkering for NZ cyclists in London Canterbury Red Sox bat for national double Good news-bad news for Central rowing pair Sonny Bill under pressure to fight a top pro Wings set NHL home win record at 21 straight Murray, Bond win for different rowing crews Spain admits doping issue after Contador ban Armstrong leads US team for cycling tour of NZ Debt crisis kills Italy's Summer Olympic hopes Cyclist Dylan Kennett's star keeps rising

A tearful and apologetic Stephanie Rice insists she is not homophobic, claiming her patriotism simply got the better of her when she made an offensive remark on Twitter.

The swim star twice broke down in tears at a press conference she called in Sydney on Wednesday as she pleaded for forgiveness over what she said were "thoughtless and careless" comments.

Triple Olympic gold medallist Rice tweeted "Suck on that faggots!" following the Wallabies' dramatic Tri-Nations weekend win over the Springboks early on Sunday (AEST).

The comment sparked a wave of condemnation, led by gay ex-footballer Ian Roberts who called Rice an "idiot" and called for sponsors to abandon her.

Motor company Jaguar did just that on Tuesday but some of her other major sponsors, including underwear company Davenport and Sunrice, have since indicated they will stick by the swimmer.

Rice deleted the post and apologised immediately via the social networking site but said she wanted to apologise publicly on Wednesday, "so people know how sorry I am for what's happened".

She said being labelled homophobic had been one of the toughest factors in a traumatic few days.

"I'm not homophobic at all and I have a lot of gay friends," Rice said.

"What I said, I didn't meant to hurt people in that way, it's not the way I intended it to be - and that hurts me.

"... Straight after I posted I got some negative comments back, so I deleted it straight away and tried to explain I had got too caught up in the moment.

"You know, I love seeing Australians do well and it was such an exciting game and I guess that's why I tried to take it back straight away.

"I probably didn't realise how big it was until the next day."

Rice, who read a prepared statement before fielding questions, reiterated a handful of times the ordeal had taught her "a huge lesson".

"I've obviously disappointed a lot of people, not only sponsors but the general public but it's a huge lesson I've learned," she said.

"I'm just really here to gain people's trust back and just really show how sorry I am and how out of character it was."

Rice, who will miss the Commonwealth Games after recent shoulder surgery, said it had been a tough year but one that had made her stronger.

"It's just reinforced that I want to do well in the pool and I want to be a role model and I think if I didn't I wouldn't be so affected by this," she said.

The 22-year-old said she had not spoken to Roberts but would be happy to.

Having received support from openly-gay Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, who said her comments were "thoughtless" but not homophobic, she earned further backing on Wednesday with prominent gay rights activist Gary Burns saying she had been treated unfairly.

"I feel very sad that this girl is suffering unnecessarily for making a mistake, you can see she's is suffering over this," Burns told AAP.

"I think this situation has got way out of hand.

"What people need to understand is, she's been made aware of what she said, she now understands that those words may have caused offence and she's apologised publicly for those words.

"I think people need to accept that, move on, and leave the girl alone."

- AAP