Beijing 2022 Olympics

[Randy W]

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are drawing to a close. Team China won nine gold medals, its highest Winter Games medal count ever.
Here’s a collection of photos from this year’s Winter Olympics, as selected by Sixth Tone’s visual editors: http://ow.ly/uAnn50HZzlQ

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3162064994112339

[Randy W]

[#Beijing2022] Have you watched the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games? What impressed you most? Share your thoughts with us~ #ClosingCeremony #2022WinterOlympics  #travelchina  Photo by冯永斌、张威

from Splendors of Guangxi
https://www.facebook.com/splendorsofguangxi/posts/736524641068059

Edited February 21, 2022 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Breaking News: In a reversal, the International Paralympic Committee has barred athletes from Russia and Belarus from the Beijing Winter Games.

from the NY Times on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/posts/10152884038574999

Paralympics, in Reversal, Bars Athletes From Russia and Belarus

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Citing threats by several countries to boycott the Games, mounting discontent in the athletes’ village and fears that a “deteriorating” situation there could lead to violence, the International Paralympic Committee said the situation had changed so dramatically overnight that the viability of the Games would be in jeopardy if organizers did not expel the Russian and Belarusian athletes.

“The environment in the village is deteriorating,” said Andrew Parsons, the president of the I.P.C. He said rising anger and threats by multiple national committee, some under pressure from their governments, to withdraw from the Games had made the situation “untenable.”

Parsons said there were no reports of confrontations or violence between athletes, but tensions were rising and he said there was a “huge” concern for the safety of participants.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Recently, photos of athletes against the backdrop of massive disused cooling towers beside the #ShougangBigAir, one of the most stylish venues of #Beijing2022, went viral on social media.
Some Twitter users even wondered if the athletes were competing near some kind of nuclear facility when they saw cooling towers in the background. They deleted their ignorant tweets after realizing that the venue was actually built at a decommissioned steel plant.
Nowadays, tourists visiting Shougang Park, the former “steel city,” enjoy sci-fi elements, trendy sports, unmanned technology, and elements of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The park has completed its transformation from an obsolete industrial area into a tourist attraction featuring industrial heritage and cultural creation.

from China Pictorial on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/ChinaPic/posts/4698789170246435

 

[Randy W]

Because the feelings of the Chinese people are easily hurt . . .

Eileen Gu angers Chinese fans with ‘unpatriotic’ farewell message and video showing her flying private
Society & Culture
Published May 2, 2022
Eileen Gu caught flak in the U.S. for representing China at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Now some Chinese social media users are criticizing her for returning to the U.S.

A JD.com advertisement with an image of Olympic skiing star Eileen Gu at a bus stop in Beijing. Tingshu Wang/Reuters

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While some of Gu’s supporters thanked her back for representing China during the Beijing Games and being a role model for young women in the country, the post also set off a firestorm of negative reactions that ranged from grave disappointment to downright anger, with some of Gu’s most ardent fans turning into her toughest critics. 

Many people took aim at the tone of Gu’s farewell message, saying that she sounded like a foreigner purposefully maintaining an emotional distance from Chinese people. Others pointed to the wording as evidence and questioned why Gu didn’t refer to China as her “motherland” like other Chinese athletes. “It’s obvious that China is just a travel destination to her,” a Weibo user wrote (in Chinese).

The criticism piled on, with some people calling Gu an “opportunist” capitalizing on China’s vast market potential to advance her athletic career and make a fortune. But others came to Gu’s defense and called out her critics for having “unfair” expectations for the skiing prodigy, who they said was just a young woman reluctantly caught between two countries and forced by many to choose a side. 

 

 

[Randy W]

Not sure that this really adds anything to the subject, but this is a new article (dated July 😎 from the Sixth Tone, and also discusses other "naturalized" athletes. I'm still confused about "naturalization", since I'm pretty sure Eileen Gu never actually gave up her American citizenship. 

“Athlete naturalization remains a contentious issue in many parts of the world. In China, where in-migration is difficult and conferral of citizenship a relatively rare and symbolic act, public attitudes towards athlete naturalization are diverse and occasionally ambivalent.”

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/1570821646570023/posts/pfbid02RQtY8QyE4kCRuM2cBYPBCv7yCRAowEqrC5E1b58cxxiNDwX2QWP9bPjtM2EwAej1l/

Chinese Fans Are Embracing Naturalized Athletes — On One Condition
A survey found positive fan attitudes toward naturalization, provided the athletes demonstrate sufficient loyalty to their new home.

From left to right, Brandon Yip, Eileen Gu, and Aloísio. Visual elements from VCG, reedited by Sixth Tone

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To date, China has fielded 42 naturalized athletes across eight Olympic sports, including soccer and ice hockey. Of these, 31 are foreign-born ethnic Chinese with family links to the country, but attempts to improve the country’s performance in soccer, ice hockey, and ice skating have also resulted in 11 non-ethnic Chinese taking Chinese citizenship. Among Chinese naturalized athletes, all but one — equestrian Alex Hua Tian, who acquired Chinese citizenship in 2006 ahead of the Beijing Summer Olympics — changed their nationality in 2018 or later.

Some of China’s most high-profile naturalized athletes are found on the soccer field, where, in an attempt to improve its chances to qualify for the Qatar World Cup later this year, China set aside longstanding official objections to naturalization and incorporated four Brazilian-born players into the squad. Curious how this decision sat with China’s soccer fans, our research team conducted a survey of more than 800 Chinese supporters, the results of which were published in the open access academic journal Soccer and Society earlier this year.

Their relatively rapid increase in numbers in recent years does not mean an uncontrolled opening-up to foreign athletes. China’s approach to naturalizing foreign talent remains highly utilitarian, case-by-case, and politicized. Naturalized athletes, who must give up their foreign passport to compete for China, find themselves under intense scrutiny from fans and officials alike. Misbehavior on and off the field, including inadvertent cultural or political faux pas, are picked up by the press and spread rapidly on social media.

In soccer, after several naturalization candidates made headlines for allegedly receiving special treatment or showing signs of mercenary behavior, China’s sport authorities responded by instituting strict rules to regulate naturalization and teach naturalized players Chinese language and culture.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Now on to 2024 . . .

“We don’t want these kinds of people and we don’t need these kinds of gold medals. This is completely meaningless!” said one commenter. “The moment I see them in the Chinese national team uniform, my heart will ache!” said another.

Read more: http://ow.ly/okp450M4lY3

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/pfbid0qouSHQV4SjnfpcRYcL86S4hAJirERHKVKzRAgHftkuKr1t224n4sLerVTcD8cjyXl

Two Star Athletes Have Chosen to Represent China. Netizens Are Furious.
Champion speed skaters Liu Shaolin Sandor and Liu Shaoang have become the targets of unexpected vitriol after switching allegiances from Hungary to China — a sign of Chinese fans’ growing skepticism toward naturalized athletes.

Liu Shaolin (right) and Liu Shaoang celebrate after finishing first and second in the Men’s 500m final during the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in Debrecen, Hungary, 2021. Christian Kaspar-Bartke/International Skating Union via VCG

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Posts about the Lius on social media app WeChat and microblogging platform Weibo by Beijing Youth Daily Sports, 163 Sports, and other media outlets have been flooded with comments from angry netizens. Many are short and to the point: “You are not welcome.” “Don’t come to China.” “Don’t take Chinese nationality.”

The vitriol is partly a result of Liu Shaolin Sandor’s disqualification after a clash with China’s Ren Ziwei at Beijing 2022. But it also reflects a wider shift in public attitudes toward naturalized athletes in China, as fans accuse foreign-born stars of trying to cash in on their Chinese heritage.

Before the Games, the Liu brothers — who were born in Hungary, but whose father is Chinese — received a warm reception from both Chinese media and netizens despite the fact they were representing Hungary at the time. Many praised the pair for their good looks, sporting success, and connection with Chinese culture: Both speak fluent Mandarin with pronounced northeastern accents and trained under a Chinese coach.

But the love affair came to an end during the Games. In the 1,000m final, Liu Shaolin held off China’s Ren Ziwei in a razor-edge close finish. But the judges ruled that Liu used his arm to hold Ren back. Liu was disqualified and Ren was declared Olympic champion.

 

 

[Randy W]

Seems like she's pretty well entrenched in the West.

Eileen Gu insists she’s ‘Eileen from maths class’ despite Laureus Awards triumph

from the SCMP on Twitter
https://twitter.com/SCMPNews/status/1656276881052962817?cxt=HBwWgsDUjYnDo_wtAAAA&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&refsrc=email

Eileen Gu insists she’s ‘Eileen from maths class’ despite Laureus Awards triumph alongside Messi, Fraser-Pryce

• The freestyle skier says she is trying to stay grounded as she balances sport and fashion with studying quantum physics at Stanford
• China’s star of the Beijing Winter Olympics says it’s ‘funny’ to be honoured alongside Lionel Messi and she spent the flight to Paris doing homework

Published: 8:30pm, 10 May, 2023
 

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“I really am focused on uplifting young people, on encouraging people to find their voice to break their own boundaries through sport at the moment, but maybe through other means in the future, and hopefully to unite people and allow people to come together in a meaningful and empowering, uplifting way.”