Winter Olympics: Taiwan speed skater draws ire at home for donning China team outfit

Huang Yu-ting, one of four athletes competing in Beijing Games under the Chinese Taipei flag, says the suit was a show of friendship with a Chinese competitor

Online commenters, politicians and public figures accuse Huang of lacking political common sense and suggest she lose team accreditation

Reading Time:3 minutes

99+

Taiwanese Olympic skater Huang Yu-ting posted a video of herself in the outfit with “China” placed prominently on the back. Photo: Weibo

Published: 7:00pm, 3 Feb 2022Updated: 7:57pm, 3 Feb 2022

Taiwanese speed skater Huang Yu-ting is facing a backlash on the self-ruled island after she wore a Chinese team outfit during a training session in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics.

In a video clip posted on her Instagram account, the 33-year-old is seen dressed in the Chinese team suit in a practice session for the Games, which start in Beijing on Friday.

The clip shows Huang wearing a tight black outfit with red sleeves and “China” emblazoned on the back. She posted the clip on January 23, saying that if nothing went wrong, she was “going to leave for Beijing in less than a week”.

Speed skater Huang Yu-ting in the suit she said she was given to her by a friend on the Chinese team. Photo: Weibo

Huang, who won gold in the women’s 1,000-metre race at the 2021 International Skating Union’s Four Continents Championships, is one of four athletes competing for Chinese Taipei at the Winter Olympics.

The clip has gone viral since Tuesday, with Taiwanese netizens commenting that her outfit was an “eyesore” and flooding her social media networks with negative comments and hate speech.

“It is ridiculous. If you want to represent the Chinese team, get out of Taiwan,” one internet user wrote.

Many other commenters aired their opinions.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x