Lost Gold Medal to Taiwan in Men's Doubles Badminton
Chinese Netizens Say "Olympic Support Is Just a Waste of Money"
The medal ceremony for the men's badminton doubles event at the Paris Olympics on the 4th is taking place. Taiwan won the gold medal, and China took the silver medal. [Photo by Paris/AP Yonhap News]
Chinese netizens have shown intense reactions, saying "Let's not hold the Olympics," after losing the gold medal to Taiwan in the men's doubles badminton event.
Recently, on Chinese social networking services (SNS), posts spreading the message that "supporting the Olympics is just a waste of money for Chinese people suffering from economic pressure" have been circulating. The author strongly criticized, saying, "While developing countries use the Olympics to enhance their international image and influence, for China, which has escaped poverty, gold medals are neither stimulating nor tasty food."
The post received nearly 2,500 sympathetic comments such as "The delegation of over 700 athletes is a waste of taxpayers' money," "What help does winning a gold medal provide to the country?" and "The money spent on the Olympics is too regrettable."
In particular, the anger of local netizens intensified after the men's doubles badminton final on the 4th, where the gold medal was handed over to Taiwan.
On the 4th, in the Paris Olympics men's doubles badminton event, China's world No. 1 players Liang Weijian and Wang Chang lost the gold medal to Taiwan's No. 12 ranked players Li Yang and Wang Qilin. China, which had expected to win, was furious as the lower-ranked Taiwanese players defeated the Chinese players and took the gold medal.
Immediately after the match, on Chinese SNS Weibo, the hashtag "Wang Chang-Liang Weijian final" ranked first in searches, and posts such as "Let's not hold the Olympics," "It hurts our pride," "The Olympics do not help China at all," and "We must win the gold medal next time" were posted.
On the other hand, Taiwan was ecstatic. Major Taiwanese media broadcasted the match live and focused heavily on interviews with the players after the game. Reports also showed Taiwanese citizens watching the match at train stations and breaking down in tears.
Meanwhile, the two Taiwanese players had previously defeated the Chinese doubles team and won the gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, becoming "national heroes." At that time, the image of their returning passenger plane being escorted by air force fighters also became a major topic domestically.
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