(Beijing) Chinese world and Olympic short track speed skating champion Lin Xiaojun said he was “very angry” and “deeply hurt” after being subjected to online insults following a collision with a teammate in the World Cup final.
In Beijing last weekend, Lin Xiaojun and Liu Shaoang were in the lead when they collided during the men’s 500m final. Lin, a 1500m gold medalist at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics while competing for South Korea and a multiple world champion, said he was then targeted online.
“These days, I see that some social media accounts regularly post very unfriendly, even malicious comments,” South Korean-born Lin wrote on China’s X-like site Weibo.
“These comments not only hurt my teammates, my coaches and others around us, but they also hurt me deeply, which has seriously affected our training and our lives,” he continued.
“These insults make me angry and saddened, and I really hate this kind of behavior,” added the 27-year-old skater, who was previously known as Lim Hyo-jun before moving to China.
After verification, the offensive messages no longer seemed visible on Wednesday.
Lin is not the first Chinese athlete to have been targeted online recently by disgruntled fans.
Last month, basketball star Yao Ming said criticism of the men’s team had gone too far as some players were insulted following a series of disappointing results.
“Some criticism of technique and tactics is welcome,” explained Yao Ming, selected eight times for the NBA All-Star Game and now president of the Chinese Basketball Federation. “But some things went beyond the scope of basketball and we do not agree,” lamented the former pivot of the Houston Rockets.
