FOX News Executive Editor and VP John Moody, who came under fire after writing a homophobic and racist column about the change in make-up of the U.S. Olympic team, has left the network.

CNN reports: “A Fox News spokesperson confirmed the news, telling CNN, ‘John Moody has retired from Fox News.’ A person close to the situation said Moody had planned on retiring before his recent column drew outrage. Moody, who could not be reached for comment, started at Fox News as executive vice president when the network was conceived in 1996. He left in 2009 to become CEO of News Corp’s NewsCore wire service.”

Wrote Moody in the column, now removed:

Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to “Darker, Gayer, Different.” If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work.

A USOC official was quoted this week expressing pride (what else?) about taking the most diverse U.S. squad ever to the Winter Olympics. That was followed by a, frankly, embarrassing laundry list of how many African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes are on this year’s U.S. team. No sport that we are aware of awards points – or medals – for skin color or sexual orientation.

For the current USOC, a dream team should look more like the general population. So, while uncomfortable, the question probably needs to be asked: were our Olympians selected because they’re the best at what they do, or because they’re the best publicity for our current obsession with having one each from Column A, B and C?

Said FOX News in a statement: “John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of Fox News and has been removed.”