Good athletes not determined by success alone

Eileen Gu and Zhu Yi both were born and brought up in the United States. And both are representing China at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Yet the public opinion about them in China is totally different.

Gu has been drawing praise for winning the gold medal in the women's freestyle skiing big air competition, while Zhu has become the target of trolls and critiques because she lost in the women's singles short program in the team event.

Even before the Winter Games opened, Zhu, a 19-year-old figure skater, was targeted by trolls, with rumormongers baselessly claiming she was included in China's Olympics team because of her family's "influence".

Chinese athletes have long been under pressure to win medals at regional and international sports events. At the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, Liu Xiang was brutally criticized for withdrawing from the 110-meter hurdles race. For those attacking Liu, it didn't matter that he had won the 110m hurdles gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics－the first by a Chinese athlete in the men's track-and-field event. Nor did it matter that he had pulled up after a false start in his first-round heat, having aggravated a chronic Achilles tendon injury, before eventually withdrawing from the Beijing Games.

After Gu won the gold, a fan wrote on social media that she was worried that Gu would face fierce criticism if she lost, because the media had praised her to the sky before the event.

But it's not that everyone is censuring those who have tried but failed to win gold. In fact, many sports fans don't seem obsessed with gold medals any more, because silver and bronze medal winners are also hitting the headlines and being praised on social media. Many people active on social media know the pitfalls of over-praising an athlete: in case the athlete fails to win a medal, the public backlash could be brutal. That should not be the case, but unfortunately that's the reality－in most cases.

When the 14-year-old Quan Hongchan won the gold medal in the women's 10m platform diving at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games last year, an article with the headline "Protect Quan Hongchan" was widely shared on social media. It called for taking proper care of the young, highly gifted athlete, and preparing her to deal with failures, if any, in the future.

Winning glory for one's country is above everything. But the public seems to be slowly realizing the importance of loving and enjoying sports for all its attributes, not just winning medals. No wonder "we owe Liu (Xiang) an apology" has been trending on social media of late.

Although Zhu Yi has been targeted by cyber-bullies, many have also come to her defense. Some of them have argued that no one wants to fail, especially after spending huge amounts of time and energy to prepare for an event.

As for Gu, her success can be attributed to－apart from her skill, speed and style－her ability to overcome her fear of defeat. The 18-year-old chose a difficult trick－a left double cork 1620 jump in the third run, something she had never done in a competition before. The risk was either winning the gold or getting nothing.

Irrespective of the outcome, every athlete deserves respect for working sincerely to achieve success. None should be unfairly targeted by people for failing to fulfill a promise in a competitive sport.

More important, no sportsperson can keep winning throughout his/her life. People should be more tolerant of their sports idols' failures in competition and give due respect to their hard work.

Instead of thinking about what would happen were she to lose in a competition, Gu appears confident, ready to challenge herself and push the envelope, which are qualities that make an athlete great. Zhu doesn't seem any different either.

China is a relative newcomer to winter sports, and the two young athletes will inspire more Chinese people to play winter sports. And whether or not they win a medal, they deserve respect for the hard work they have put in to prove their worth in the sporting arena.

The author is a writer with China Daily.

yaoyuxin@chinadaily.com.cn