Tokyo Olympics: Chinese athlete abused online after disappointing finish at Tokyo 2020
- Wang Luyao failed to make the finals of the air-rifle event despite being a medal favourite
- The woman received heavy abuse online; eventually censors stepped in to delete accounts
A Chinese Olympic athlete who did not make the air-rifle final was abused online before Chinese censors intervened and suspended 33 accounts.
After the match, she posted a selfie of herself in black pyjamas with the caption: “Sorry everyone, I admit I chickened out”.
What followed was a flood of abuse from the Chinese internet, with people asking her questions like, “Why not reflect on your failure? What purpose do you have for releasing an arrogant selfie?”
Another person wrote: “You did not spend time thinking about why you failed, but immediately posted a selfie on Weibo. It seems you desire to be famous.”
The backlash prompted Weibo to publicly announce it had banned 33 accounts from using the platform for between 90 and 180 days. 35 comments attacking Wang were also deleted.