The Chinese Internet has been inundated with slanderous comments against Chinese athletes who performed poorly at the Paris Olympics. Verbal abuse against athletes is a big problem in Japan, but in China it is seen as an expression of dissatisfaction with society, including inequality of opportunity.

“Don’t use athletes who are not in good shape,” “He’s a sinner for the nation.” On July 29, China competed against Japan in the men’s gymnastics team all-around final. Su Weide (24), who fell twice on the horizontal bar, apologized at a press conference, but the slander that he was to blame for China missing out on the gold medal continued.

On the short message posting website “Weibo”, threatening words such as “I suggest shooting him” were also posted, and according to Hong Kong media, the hashtag “Su’s apology” temporarily became the most popular search term. Su was forced to close the comment section of his account.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency also harshly criticized Su, saying, “Su’s repeated mistakes have completely shattered everyone’s dreams.” (Kyodo News)