She Won Soccer's Most Prestigious Award — And Then Was Immediately Asked If She Could Twerk

Ada Hegerberg's winning of the first women's Ballon d'Or was marred by sexist comments from DJ Martin Solveig.

Monday was a big day for sports fans, as France Football issued its first Women's Ballon d'Or award. It named Ada Hegerberg the best women's soccer player in the world.

Hegerberg, a 23-year-old from Norway who plays for Lyon in France, is generally considered an amazing soccer player.

"Hegerberg was dominant in the 2017-18 season, scoring 42 goals across all competitions, including 14 in the Champions League. At age 23, Hegerberg already has 272 professional goals," SBNation wrote.

So being the first woman to win the Ballon d'Or — which while generally considered a popularity contest has been awarded multiple times to greats like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — is a huge deal.

"I want to say thanks to my teammates because this would not have been possible without them, my coach, or our president Jean-Michel Aulas," she said after winning the award, according to a BBC translation. "I also want to thank France Football. This is a huge step for women's football."

But her victory was marred when Martin Solveig — a French DJ and participant in the awards show — asked Hegerberg if she could twerk. Her reaction said a lot in very few words.

Martin Solveig : enfin un ballon d'or féminin, il était temps 2 minutes later mdr : #BallonDor

For those who are less versed in Hegerberg's achievements, freelance sports broadcaster Kait Borsay broke it down:

Lyon striker Ada Hegerberg.. ➡️ 3 time winner of Women’s #ChampionsLeague & French league #division1feminine ➡️ Scored more than 250 career goals by age of 23 ➡️ First winner of women’s #BallonDor ⬇️ Asked to twerk on stage after picking up her award. Not ok. Blatant #sexism. https://t.co/3kuqKDESgl

Please also see this exquisite goal:

Or this great compilation that shows why she deserved the honor she won on Monday:

This video of Ada Hegerberg is worth your time. This is why she is the first female winner of the Ballon D'Or. Sadly the video of the goon asking her to twerk will be watched more than this. https://t.co/HxNTDrivrz

The reaction across Twitter was a swift and universal condemnation of Solveig.

Icky moment: At soccer's biggest award's show, Martin Solveig uses biggest moment to ask Ada Hegerberg -- who was just named best women's player in the world -- if she can twerk. Her reaction says it all. https://t.co/4ay6lU0Orv

Many were offended not just by the sexist nature of his request but how it was set to steal the spotlight from Hegerberg's moment.

i'm supposed to be writing but i'm just sittin here pissed off as hell. this was supposed to be ada hegerberg's special day, the culmination of EVERYTHING she's worked for. now the only thing people are talking about is a POS asking her to twerk.

The scorn was multilingual, spanning French...

er ballon d'or féminin et Martin Solveig sort dans le plus grand des calmes :" Est-ce-que tu sait twerker ??" #BallonDor https://t.co/uQcivYlm3T

...and Norsk.

Nå må David Ginola snart gi mikrofonen til Martin Solveig, så han kan spørre også Luka Modric om han vet hvordan man twerker.

"Now [host] David Ginola will soon give the microphone to Martin Solveig, so he can ask also [men's Ballon d'Or winner] Luka Modric if he knows how to twerk."

As is par for the course for 2018, Solveig quickly — albeit briefly — had his Wikipedia article changed.

Twitter: @cxy

Solveig posted on Twitter to say he was a "little bit amazed" about what was going around on the internet.

Sincere apologies to the one I may have offended. My point was : I don’t invite women to twerk but dance on a Sinatra song. Watch the full sequence People who have followed me for 20 years know how respectful I am especially with women https://t.co/pnZX8qvl4R

"I, of course, didn't want to offend anyone," he said. "This comes from a distortion of my English level and my English culture level which is obviously not enough."

"This was a joke, and I want to apologize for the one I may have offended," Solveig concluded.

Hederberg for her part has yet to comment on the request, aside from her curt "No" while onstage.

In a (very, very small) bit of justice, though, Kylian Mbappé — who just won the first Kopa Trophy for players under 21 — had absolutely no idea who Solveig is.

« EST-CE QUE TU CONNAIS MARTIN SOLVEIG ? » MBAPPE : « EUH.... NON » PTDDDDDRRRRRRRR JE L’AIME #ballondor

Same, Mbappé. Same.

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