As US figure skater Nathan Chen dethroned Yuzuru Hanyu, the two-time Olympic champion and former world record holder, Chinese social media flared up in a polarised reaction to the American and Japanese figure skaters. Hanyu, who enjoys immense popularity in China, was showered with support and admiration on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform. In stark contrast, the freshly minted Olympic champion Chen faced near unanimous vitriol. “Besides pity, there’s also admiration! Yuzuru is truly passionate about figure skating. Mistakes are inevitable, but the strong conviction shown in face of mistakes – alongside grit and courage – demonstrates that he is a genuinely outstanding professional athlete who deserves our love and admiration,” a commentator wrote. “[Hanyu’s] performance had both beauty and power, that’s ballet on ice. What’s his performance like? Like that of an ape,” wrote a netizen on Chen’s performance. Two hours after the Japanese skater’s performance, Hanyu-related hashtags trended on Weibo, taking the top spot as well as two more top-10 spots at the peak of online searches. The top-trending hashtag, which mentioned Hanyu’s attempt at the quadruple axel, garnered almost 70,000 posts and comments within an hour of his performance. This hashtag accumulated more than 300 million views in two hours after the competition. Chen occupied one spot on the top searches list, with hashtag #US skater Chen Wei gold medal peaking at fourth. Chen Wei is the Chinese name of the US-born Nathan Chen, whose parents immigrated to the US from China. The scene under Chen’s neutral-sounding hashtag, however, was far from neutral. Netizens lashed out at Chen’s routine, calling it “acrobatics of a circus monkey” and criticising a perceived lack of aesthetic appeal. Many descended into personal attacks, comparing the athlete to a monkey. “What is he doing? It looks like street dance but it’s not, looks like a robot dance but it’s not. What a monkey show,” one disgruntled commentator wrote. Chen’s second-generation immigrant status also prompted some online users to accuse Chen of “humiliating China”. Users cite the Guangxi lineage of Chen’s parents, who went to the United States for postgraduate studies in the 1980s. “Our motherland nurtured your parents, but they stayed in the United States. His mother is from Beijing and they’re a proper Chinese family. Even if he’s an Olympic champion, such humiliation to China cannot be accepted,” wrote one user. While people hound on Chen’s Chinese heritage and American citizenship, Hanyu’s Japanese nationality was largely deemed irrelevant. “I’ve never hoped for a Japanese to win champion so much,” wrote a commentator under a Chen-related hashtag. Nathan Chen steals show on day six as China aerials miss out on gold Comments focused more on his performance and athleticism instead. Many distinguish between patriotism and their love of Hanyu. “Our attention on him doesn’t mean we are not patriotic. We are just looking forward to his performance as an individual, not the performance of the country this person corresponds to,” wrote a fan. “So liking Yuzuru Hanyu means I’m not patriotic? Art sees no boundaries, I like him as a person, for himself, for his passion towards figure skating,” another wrote.