Recently, during the Paris Olympics, Yuan Haoran, an official from the Chinese National Sports Administration, sparked discontent among nationalistic Chinese internet users after interpreting issues related to “performance-enhancing drugs” for swimmers. Subsequently, the National Sports Administration announced an immediate investigation in response to the backlash.
According to information from the “China Sports Daily”, on August 6th, a responsible person at the Chinese National Sports Administration stated that there were doubts online regarding inappropriate remarks made by a cadre of a subordinate unit of the National Sports Administration through personal social media. The National Sports Administration has taken notice of the situation and promptly initiated an investigation.
The individual in question, Yuan Haoran, is the Deputy Director of the Cycling and Fencing Sports Management Center under the National Sports Administration, known on Weibo as “Mixed Swim”. According to Baidu Baike, Yuan Haoran is also a swimming event referee and an international level judge.
Previously, on August 2nd, on his Weibo account “Mixed Swim”, Yuan Haoran posted, “Yesterday my colleague from Beijing mentioned the joke circulating online that after white people (white athletes) finish swimming competitions, their faces turn pink. I jokingly commented that maybe it’s because of some biased coloration in certain paid video broadcasts? As a result, I was criticized.”
He mentioned that he sits closest to the swimming pool and hadn’t noticed it himself, so he compared some official photographs to the screenshots circulating online and did not find the faces as pink as indicated, providing an analysis of three reasons.
This post soon aroused discontent among nationalistic Chinese internet users. Consequently, Yuan Haoran closed his Weibo account.
On August 5th, online rumors were rampant: “Breaking news at the Paris Olympics: China’s representative to the International Swimming Federation, Yuan Haoran, will apply for political asylum in France and will not return to China for disciplinary review and supervision investigation!” The topic labeled “Yuan Haoran applying for political asylum in France” also spread on Weibo.
However, before publication, a reporter from Da Ji Yuan clicked on the link related to the topic and found that it had been blocked on Weibo, displaying “Sorry, the content of this topic is not shown. Below are the search results.”