SYDNEY - Australia's triple Olympic gold medallist Stephanie Rice made a tearful public apology yesterday for making a homophobic comment on Twitter, saying her words were thoughtless but not meant to offend.

"My comments were thoughtless and careless but I can assure you when I made those comments on Twitter I never intended to offend anybody," she told a news conference in Sydney.

"I've also learnt that some things you say can mean more to others than they do to you."

Rice prompted a storm of controversy when she tweeted "Suck on that faggots!" after Australia's narrow win over South Africa in the Tri-Nations rugby on Saturday.

The 22-year-old later deleted the post and apologised on her website but the comment prompted an angry response from gay ex-rugby league player Ian Roberts who called her an idiot, while luxury carmaker Jaguar scrapped a sponsorship deal with the swimmer.

"I owe it to those who I have offended to publicly say, I am sorry," Rice said. "I am not a person who judges others or speaks in a way that hurts others."

Australian swimming's glamour girl, who has deals with underwear company Davenport and the Channel 7 network, said she was not homophobic.

"I felt I've let a lot of people down," she said.