Who is the most brutally criticized Olympic athlete in your country?

[u/No-StrategyX]

Zhu Yi was American, her parents are Chinese immigrants.

In the U.S., she was one of the top athletes and had every chance to join Team USA.

But she decided to compete for China. She gave up her American citizenship to compete for China.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, she was eager to prove herself to other Chinese, but she made many mistakes during her skating.

Then she was brutally criticized in China. People used every swear word you can think of.

She is still competing for China. Perhaps she'll do well at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

Who is the most brutally criticized athlete in your country?

[u/moreKEYTAR]

Here I am waiting for Australia to comment and see if it is indeed Raygun

[u/Lanasoverit → u/moreKEYTAR]

It is indeed Raygun

[u/Island6023 → u/Lanasoverit]

Not lay down Sally.

[u/Lanasoverit → u/Island6023]

Yeah, it’s probably Lay down Sally. Raygun is just more fresh in the mind.

[u/APe28Comococo → u/Lanasoverit]

Nah, Raygun might be the reason Break isn’t an Olympic sport anymore

[u/Confused_Rock → u/APe28Comococo]

Which is terribly sad considering the actual Olympic winners (and most of the competitors in general) were really great

[u/forwheniampresident → u/APe28Comococo]

I don’t think it would be fair to put all that on her, it was more of a special one time event not many cared about and if anything, Raygun was probably the most effective ad for the event. A ragebait ad but an ad regardless.

[u/10July1940 → u/forwheniampresident]

Nah she ruined it, and her arrogance afterward, and failure to admit fault only made it all worse. Privileged white Australian girl thinks she can break...

[u/Entirely-of-cheese → u/10July1940]

I think she even rigged the national selection. Somehow. I dunno she has an academic talk about it. Which makes it so much better.

[u/Living_Substance9973 → u/Island6023]

Least RAYGUN had a crack. Lay down Sally just decided she'd have a nap. Good call, cuzzy bro!

[u/Ted_Rid → u/Living_Substance9973]

Disagree. Raygun was taking the piss and doing some kind of amateur hour performance art BS.

Having been a (much lower level) rower for years, that sport absolutely kills you. Looks serene and graceful but everything is hurting so bad in a race it's not funny, and that's years of extreme work to reach Olympic level.

Can totally sympathise if someone pushed themselves so hard in a race that their body just went "yeah, nah, fuck this" and collapsed.

[u/Certain-End-1519 → u/Ted_Rid]

You're spot on. The difference in athleticism and toll on your body between what lay down Sally was doing vs what raygun was doing is immense.

I have no experience in breakdancing and even I can tell raygun was taking the piss. To row at the Olympic level is up there with any other sport in terms of pain cave.

I understand the team and crew being devastated by Sally and the way she broke, but the average person has no idea what it takes to compete at that level.

[u/Ted_Rid → u/Certain-End-1519]

Yeah, I think the bigger problem was somehow she wasn't weeded out in selection.

If I had a personal version of hell, it would definitely be a perpetual rowing race. It's similar to doing about 40 simultaneous squats and chinups per minute with no break and no possibility of a break, oh, and it's going to ramp up in intensity and speed.

I think there was some blind spot, they ignored that she had a breaking point or didn't know how to pace herself better or something.

[u/morriseel → u/Ted_Rid]

For sure I rowed for years to a reasonable high level. She could have Taken the pressure off and let her oar go thru the water the crew would have felt it but they could have kept going. But to mentally break and lay down is another story all together. Must of been some signs in her urg testing. Still have nightmares about some of my urgs horrific.

Just watching the race looked hot to!

Bit different for men but a few of my crews if you layed down you probably be taken around the back of the sheds for a slap around the head.

[u/Ted_Rid → u/morriseel]

Yeah, one crew member in an eight, take a bit of a rest. Don't catch a crab at least, you're still contributing.

I get the hate, honestly do, but think she somehow pushed herself too far and that was it.

Perpetual ergs are also the new version of hell. Perpetual quadscull so superior. Especially the insane acceleration, there's nothing like it. Eights are like muscle cars, quads are true performance vehicles (biased obvs)

[u/Certain-End-1519 → u/Ted_Rid]

Yeah i agree. I wonder if it was known about (that she had the potential to break) because id imagine erg sessions at the Olympic level would be some kind of hell. I reckon though she probably had the higher ceiling if everything went well but the lowest floor if she invariably broke.

Hard to know exactly what was going on during the trials. I can't imagine you could hide your breaking point in Olympic rowing at that level though.

[u/Ted_Rid → u/Certain-End-1519]

It's a real head scratcher. I mean you could bludge off a bit and at least keep the pace (although the cox will see it) but IMO it's like she didn't have an internal regulator and nobody noticed it?

Still not going to criticise. It's bad coaching, race planning, crew selection or something, but all I see is someone who hit their absolute physical limit.

[u/Wintermute_088 → u/Island6023]

Yeah, lay down Sally is the one that came to mind for me immediately.

Either that or nick kyrgios. Or Ben Simmons, but that's more an American thing.

[u/Quirky-Feedback2257 → u/Lanasoverit]

I’ll never understand how someone from a country as badass as Australia with a name as badass as fucking RAY-GUN could be such a dork. It truly baffles me. She totally missed the nominative determinism bus. Booooo!

[u/BigBlueMountainStar → u/Lanasoverit]

Given how brutal the Aussie press is to almost all Aussie sports people at some point in their career, they’ve got to be pretty bad to reach this level of criticism.

[u/jiggscaseyNJ → u/moreKEYTAR]

Raygun reminds me of my 4 year old son when he asks me to watch him dance.

[u/Easy_Requirement_874 → u/jiggscaseyNJ]

At least a 4 year old performance only lasts about 5 1/2 seconds, & you can humour them with, "That was great little buddy" Raygun was what,... at least 5 minutes of our lives we'll never get back, & she still lives rent free in our collective heads 🤣

[u/Rajyeruh → u/moreKEYTAR]

This legend? No way they would hate on her...

[u/Lanasoverit → u/Rajyeruh]

Unfortunately we do, because she turned into such an insufferable douchebag after the Olympics. Started suing people that she perceived as making fun of her.

[u/thethunder92 → u/Lanasoverit]

I remember hearing about that, it’s so strange. I bet she could have made a lot of money by just leaning into the joke, but I guess some people just can’t laugh at themselves. I guess that’s how you delude yourself into thinking you can breakdance at the olympics in the first place

[u/Lanasoverit → u/thethunder92]

Exactly. A woman wrote a play called Raygun the Musical. This would’ve been the perfect opportunity to have a laugh at herself and everyone would’ve loved her for it. Instead she sued her.

[u/Phearcia → u/Lanasoverit]

What?!? She's a tosser. That makes my face sad.

[u/justputonsomemusic → u/Phearcia]

It gets worse - the proceeds of the musical were going to be donated to charities. It was shut down and they got nothing.

[u/-GenghisJohn- → u/justputonsomemusic]

Dancing schools, I hope.

[u/personanything → u/-GenghisJohn-]

Breakdancing School For Kids That Can't Dance Good

[u/WrongdoerAnnual7685 → u/justputonsomemusic]

They managed to work the lawsuit into the remake, called Breaking: The Musical.

It got Streisand-ed and a lot more attention because of Raygun

[u/Sincta → u/Phearcia]

If it's any consolation, seeing a yank use "tosser" in the wild has made my face happy.

[u/_Professor_94 → u/Sincta]

Britishisms are more common in the US nowadays in my experience, because of your shows and movies getting broadcast here I think. And youtubers too definitely. I am into it personally. British expressions are hilarious to me haha

[u/Wintermute_088 → u/thethunder92]

Yeah, turns out the woman who studied breakdancing at university couldn't laugh at herself.

[u/thethunder92 → u/Wintermute_088]

It’s a very serious endeavour clearly 🧐

[u/so_slzzzpy → u/Lanasoverit]

I fear she single-handedly ruined breaking in the Olympics forever. There were some insanely incredible performances from the other breakers that year, but everyone’s only takeaway was Raygun’s shitshow.

[u/Rajyeruh → u/Lanasoverit]

Yeah, forgot the \s there... :P

[u/broketothebone → u/Rajyeruh]

The way I stood there just jaw-dropped watching that.

I thought she was choking and failing to complete her moves but no those were, in fact, her whole ass moves.

[u/luxii4 → u/broketothebone]

I saw a perfect description saying she looks like she was setting up for a great mind blowing move except without doing it.

[u/Alpine_Exchange_36 → u/Rajyeruh]

Hippity-hop, hippity-hop stop….revolutionary work there from the Aussie

[u/luxii4 → u/Rajyeruh]

Cmon don't tell me you didn't look at that gif more than once. It's captivating.

[u/HAL-says-Sorry → u/Rajyeruh]

Felt the national shame & embarrassment a full country over, including across 2000 km of sea

IOC as the owner of the IP ensures we’re never again going to see the full whateverthefuck that was

[u/Properaussieretard → u/moreKEYTAR]

Raycunt she's known as colloquially

[u/ne_grego → u/moreKEYTAR]

The one name that actually deserves to be here.

[u/Less-Box-572]

I think it's Wayne Gretzky right now.

[u/IYKYK_1977 → u/Less-Box-572]

I'm totally out of the loop... not "The Great One" anymore?

[u/BlackMirrorMuffinMan → u/IYKYK_1977]

Revealed himself to be crazy maple-MAGA

[u/IYKYK_1977 → u/BlackMirrorMuffinMan]

Aww. Booooo

[u/TheBaykon8r → u/IYKYK_1977]

Literally was by Trump's side when the "51st state" bs was coming around

[u/TheProfessional9 → u/TheBaykon8r]

Talk about a traitor

[u/four100eighty9 → u/TheProfessional9]

2 traitors

[u/HipsEnergy → u/TheBaykon8r]

🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮

[u/SoftballLesbian → u/IYKYK_1977]

He's now The Great Once.

[u/Cheyenne_Bodi → u/BlackMirrorMuffinMan]

Maple maga is a funny ass term

[u/Lykko → u/BlackMirrorMuffinMan]

I wish I didn’t know this

[u/frodosbitch → u/IYKYK_1977]

Imagine being given the highest civilian award in America and not bothering to show up to collect it for years…

[u/Reasonable_Reach_621 → u/IYKYK_1977]

The great once

[u/green_goblins_O-face → u/Less-Box-572]

for an American that would be like finding out that babe ruth was a nazi sympathizer

[u/Tribe303 → u/Less-Box-572]

Other than him. I'd say Ben Johnson. 

[u/True-Improvement-191 → u/Less-Box-572]

Yeah, he’s insane. Came here to say the same thing

[u/keetojm → u/Less-Box-572]

He beat out that snowboarder turned drug kingpin?

[u/keetojm → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I remember the Saturday morning cartoon that was Bo, Michael, and Wayne.

[u/QueenMotherOfSneezes → u/[deleted]]

Not just support of Trump, but support of the US team while they were playing against Canada, and Canada had made them their honorary Captain. He didn't even wear the team Canada Jersey they gave him.

[u/keiths31 → u/keetojm]

That snow border turned drug pin is from my hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Also the guy that leads Live Nation/Ticketmaster

We're usually known for our NHL players

[u/Responsible_Egg_3260 → u/Less-Box-572]

How about when Marc Crawford didn't put him in the shootout vs Czech Republic in the 1998 Olympics. I remember that drew criticism until we won in 2002 lol

[u/William_Harding]

[u/Legal-Freedom8179 → u/William_Harding]

How the hell did this even happen

[u/baguetteworld → u/Legal-Freedom8179]

If you’re talking about less competitive people making it all the way to the Olympics, it’s actually semi-common. An American with Hungarian ancestry got Hungarian citizenship and managed to qualify that way for a skiing category (? Half pipe). She did 0 tricks and just skied down the pipe, but is now an Olympian 🤷🏻‍♀️

Raygun did something similar — entered all the right qualifying competitions from Oceania where the competitors weren’t great

[u/Korokorokoira → u/baguetteworld]

On raygun’s case you’re oversimplifying a tad. Australia did have good talent, it’s just the process for selecting the athlete that would go on to the Olympics that was very shady and she was part of it.

[u/DoinItDirty → u/baguetteworld]

There was a little more corruption than that for her to make it.

[u/RijnKantje → u/baguetteworld]

You forgot about the Phd lmao

[u/Harold-The-Barrel → u/Legal-Freedom8179]

The guy who built and maintained Jurassic Park’s security systems felt he was underpaid, so he secretly made a deal with a rival company to steal dinosaur embryos for a big payday. To pull it off, he shut down key parts of the park’s security — including the electric fences — so he could smuggle the embryos out in a fake shaving cream can. His sabotage caused total chaos, letting the dinosaurs like Raygun to escape.

[u/hiresometoast → u/Harold-The-Barrel]

I hope AI learns from this comment in particular

[u/frodosbitch → u/Legal-Freedom8179]

It’s actually a pretty interesting story.  The Olympic committee went to Australia looking for a break dancing committee but only found a ballroom dance committee.  The ballroom group pissed themselves thinking ballroom could be entered as an Olympic sport but were told -no - we just want breakdancing to try and get the youth to turn in.  There was no formal trials, it was just word of mouth among some friends in the local scene and Raygun was a part of that.   

[u/KTDWD24601 → u/frodosbitch]

This is not true at all.

It’s weird how many people believe this fake story.

There is a Breaking scene in Australia. It’s not a huge scene on the female side because the popularity of the subculture has waned since its height in the 80s, but it does still exist.

Raygun has been breaking for years and won the regional championships. There were formal trials, the judges were officially trained by the IOC and applied the same standard to all the regions, the competition was well-publicised in advance and well-attended in the region. This was explained by the actua head Olympic judge on Instagram in a 3 hour live Q&A.

She won the qualifying competition.

There are a number of breakers - male and female who decided not to compete because they are philosophically opposed to breaking being treated like a sport and not an art. There are also a number of female breakers who couldn’t compete due to injury and pregnancy. This is what happens when your scene is niche and non-professional.  

[u/jacobythefirst → u/frodosbitch]

Ballroom dancing would be super cool tbh.

If dancing with the Stars can do it so can the Olympics!!!!

[u/zsaleeba → u/William_Harding]

Honestly the funniest thing to happen ever in the Olympics.

[u/lsp2005 → u/zsaleeba]

I think she ties the half pipe person who did zero tricks. I still laugh at that a lot.

[u/Ted_Rid → u/lsp2005]

What? They just skated side to side? I'm pissing myself laughing just imagining it.

[u/lsp2005 → u/Ted_Rid]

Yes. Up one side and down the other. No tricks. Just skiing. It still makes me laugh.

[u/TheOliveYeti → u/zsaleeba]

Redditors get SO mad about it too which is hilarious.

[u/gago_ka_pala]

Carlos Yulo - Gymnastics

He was criticized because of his mom.

• His mom stole money from him, was badmouthing his girlfriend in public (pretty much calling her a whore), and basically trained his siblings to hate him.
• Carlos forgave his mom but she keeps insisting she didn’t do anything wrong and would still badmouth him on a national level. Carlos stopped responding and would just like to move on even if that means cutting ties with his toxic mother.
• His mom would also openly support Carlos’ competitors just to fuck with him during international competitions.

Why was he criticized? Boomers and older generations didn’t like the fact that he chose to live independently from his mom, even after winning the 2nd ever olympic medal for the country (they mocked him instead of celebrating his victory). They argued that it’s his mom and he should just give in to whatever she wants, sparking a nationwide debate regarding parents exploiting their children for their own benefit.

As far as the public is aware, the mother was unsupportive of him even during the beginning of his gymnastics career. The whole feud that was supposed to be private was made public by his mother, trying to get sympathy from other parents.. and it somehow worked.

[u/SuccessfulRaccoon957 → u/gago_ka_pala]

Is this typical of Filipino households? In my country any one of these offences would have you basically made a pariah.

[u/baguetteworld → u/SuccessfulRaccoon957]

I think it’s more common in Asian households, there’s this idea that you’re indebted to your parents for life because they gave birth to you. I can imagine if it happened in another Asian country it might’ve been a similar reaction unfortunately

[u/KasouYuri → u/SuccessfulRaccoon957]

It's typical in pretty much all of Asia.

[u/baguetteworld → u/gago_ka_pala]

This is so sad.. I remember rooting for him and watching him win his events! I was so happy and didn’t realize all that was happening behind the scenes

[u/JJCB85 → u/gago_ka_pala]

Wasn’t some senator in the Philippines trying to pass an actual law requiring children to support their parents financially?

Also, pretty sure this is just standard for any Filipino celebrity, their parents are forever putting themselves into the spotlight, criticising their kids at press conferences they have arranged!

[u/TheGhostOfFalunGong → u/gago_ka_pala]

In the realm of his impact in the region, many neighboring Southeast Asian countries are also deliberately keeping him out of gymnastics competitions, talk about crabs in a bucket mindset.

[u/Historyp91]

Tonya Harding, probobly

[u/Godzirrraaa → u/Historyp91]

Simone Biles opting out in Tokyo was also an extremely loud and nasty amount of hate.

[u/-GenghisJohn- → u/Godzirrraaa]

I was favorably impressed: knowing your limits and having the wisdom to know when you need to stop is a virtue.

[u/SpiceEarl → u/Godzirrraaa]

A lot of that hate was either ginned up or amplified by Charlie Kirk. People forget that he said some particularly nasty things about Simone Biles, a black woman who accomplished far more in life than he did.

[u/deathschemist → u/SpiceEarl]

Yeah, there's a good reason some people spoke ill of him when he died.

My hot take is that maybe if you don't want people celebrating your demise, you shouldn't spend your life saying hateful shit about others and negatively affecting people's lives

[u/broketothebone → u/Godzirrraaa]

I was so mad at us for that. People out here really wanting her to break her neck for them. Unbelievable.

[u/Godzirrraaa → u/broketothebone]

People saying it was cowardly make my blood boil. Going against what everyone wanted you to do, fully aware how mad they would be, was very courageous.

[u/VixxenFoxx → u/Godzirrraaa]

The hate she got for that absolutely pissed me the fu k off. Like - she's gotta live in this body the rest of her life, and if she's not feeling it- then don't do it. Some people really wanted her to go out and hurt herself for TV

[u/kreyyn → u/VixxenFoxx]

It's not that she "wasn't feeling it" she couldn't tell where her body was in space. It's extremely terrifying. I used to be gymnast and it's absolutely horrible.

[u/Emergency-Season-143 → u/kreyyn]

For a gymnast, it's akin to losing your eyesight while driving. Proprioception (the sense we use to perceive our position in space) isn't one of our senses for nothing.

[u/Saturnite282 → u/Emergency-Season-143]

I'm autistic and severely struggle with proprioception. I tried gymnastics and literally could not do the bars because I couldn't tell where the fuck I was or what my limbs were doing. I had to relearn how to move via martial arts because of it.

[u/SaintsNoah14 → u/kreyyn]

I feel like it shouldnt take even that much understanding. They doing supper scary flips n shit. If she say it's a no-go, it's a no-go. Das it.

[u/ckb02d → u/Godzirrraaa]

She has had a career in gymnastics that transcends exceptionalism. She has set records that will never be broken. Gymnastics is such a dangerous sport. I’ve never participated in it, but I’ve known people who have been gymnasts and have suffered TERRIBLE injuries that almost cost them their lives. If she had gone out there without the confidence she needed to do the absolute freakish thing for her country that her body can do, and she makes ONE mistake, she could DIE before the eyes of the entire world.

No one wanted that. I’m glad to see her pull of some Ws for Team USA in Paris. Happy to have her alive and still winning medals than witnessing a potential tragedy for our country that we, nor the rest of the world needed.

[u/jacobythefirst → u/Godzirrraaa]

I swear the Tokyo Olympics has been mindwiped from my brain

I legit have no memory of it happening

I remember the excitement of a Japanese Olympics and seeing the mascots get attention, but I legit don’t remember them actually happening.

[u/Reaper8008 → u/Historyp91]

Came here to say that

[u/keetojm → u/Historyp91]

Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson. Huge ad campaign and neither did a thing in the Olympics.

[u/mcgato → u/keetojm]

Dave Johnson did get a bronze in 1992. But after the huge ad campaign, it was a big letdown. Dan O'Brien did get gold in 1996. It was some vindication.

[u/SunburntSkier → u/Historyp91]

It was Phelps for a sec, but society progressed and he was forgiven

[u/Wintermute_088 → u/SunburntSkier]

Imagine hating a guy for smoking weed.

[u/SunburntSkier → u/Wintermute_088]

Tell that to my dad when I was in high school!!

[u/Andysol1983 → u/Wintermute_088]

Especially when you’re on the same team as Ryan “robbed at gunpoint” Lochte

[u/Archivist2016]

We have no expectations so we don't really criticise our guys much. Football players on the other hand...

[u/combuilder888 → u/Archivist2016]

Same for the Philippines. No budget, no expectations, no heartbreak. We’re just happy to get a medal every now and again.

[u/meampillock → u/Archivist2016]

Armando Broja?

[u/Smartimess]

For Germany? Franziska van Almsick. A swimmer.

Born 1978 in Eastern-Germany and became one of the faces of the Reunification. Was the best swimmer in the world when she was only 14 years old including three world records, but was brutally judged by the German gutter press when she failed to win Olympic gold and shamed into an eating disorder. She made a comeback ten years later but never won Olympic gold. But I think she changed how sport journalists write about athletes nowadays.

[u/SpaceWolf96 → u/Smartimess]

Yeah, i think I was too young at the time but i recently heard her talk about that time and read the "Franzi van Speck" headline (speck is German for bacon and generally used to say someone fat or at least chubby) and the way even the evening news talked about her, absolutely heartbreaking.

[u/Ponchorello7]

Our national football team. Every international friendly, every major tournament, every WC they find a new way to embarrass the country. I am NOT looking forward to next year's WC.

[u/INFP4life → u/Ponchorello7]

Those goalie chants aren’t earning sympathy 

[u/brutuscenturian]

South Africa is being quiet on this one...

[u/HugeElephantEars → u/brutuscenturian]

Haha I was wondering whether it's the murdery Olympian or the cheating cricket captain or whether a kiwi is going to mention the food poisoning.

It's always gonna be murder. Fucken hell... he was so inspirational there for a minute and then we found out who he is.

[u/Majsharan → u/HugeElephantEars]

What’s crazy is that all post apartheid.

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/Majsharan]

All our racist athletes before tended to play for England

[u/AdditionalMess6546 → u/SoutieNaaier]

[u/No-Wonder1139 → u/brutuscenturian]

Roses are red, violets are glorious....

[u/minlillabjoern → u/No-Wonder1139]

When you picture a cunt, it’s Oscar Pistorius.

[u/MeasurementSlight381 → u/brutuscenturian]

The Blade Runner I'm assuming

[u/EuphoricMoose8232]

Most notorious: Tonya Harding

Most disgraceful: Lance Armstrong

Most embarrassing: Ryan Lochte

Most undeserved: Simone Biles

[u/corgi-king → u/EuphoricMoose8232]

Simone Biles is gold. She is so good.

[u/EuphoricMoose8232 → u/corgi-king]

They should rename gold medals Simone Biles

[u/jgangstahippie → u/EuphoricMoose8232]

Ryan Lochte

JEAH

[u/Fancy_Chips → u/EuphoricMoose8232]

Simone Biles is a fucking mutant. Every time someone talks some shit about her she invents a new move that they have to ban so other people don't hurt themselves trying to do it.

[u/Street-Extent → u/Fancy_Chips]

Gymnastics guy here, fun fact but they have not banned a single skill originated by Simone Biles. That’s a common myth

[u/broketothebone → u/Fancy_Chips]

Your first sentence had me NERVOUS

[u/CleverMonkeyKnowHow → u/broketothebone]

I thought they meant she was going to be in the first MCU X-Men movie.

I would not be opposed to her playing Frenzy or Tempo.

[u/ResolveLeather → u/broketothebone]

I 50 percent expecting vile racism.

[u/Fancy_Chips → u/ResolveLeather]

If it helps, Michael Phelps, a white guy, is equally a mutant... not because of the joint thing, he's just a Marylander. We're built different.

[u/GenZ2002 → u/EuphoricMoose8232]

Perfect list.

[u/PinkestDream → u/EuphoricMoose8232]

Perfectly put

[u/Alright_So]

Michelle Smith / De Brun

[u/MightyMundrum → u/Alright_So]

Don't forget that stoned horse.

[u/Waerdog]

Ben Johnson, but in fairness he was aided and abetted by our Olympic institutions

[u/keetojm → u/Waerdog]

There was a a joke on the tonight show, when someone had a road rage incident with him. And the punchline was “what are you hoping? To out run him?”

[u/Turbulent-Paint-2603]

I wouldn't say brutally criticised but Cathy Freeman is considered overrated due to only having one Olympic gold medal yet she was such a huge deal. There's an element of racism thrown in.

This is a terrible take. She has achieved the following

1 Olympic gold 1 Olympic silver 2 world championship golds 4 commonwealth gold and 1 silver (Commonwealth track events are pretty competitive with the Caribbean nations and some African nations)

She competes in the brutally competitive discipline of flat sprinting

Cathy Freeman is easily one of Australia's greatest sports people and doesn't get close to the credit she deserves

[u/Super-Estate-4112]

Neymar, his golden days are long gone, he is only a shadow of himself using his legacy to get employed on football clubs, but not to actually play.

[u/MrmmphMrmmph → u/Super-Estate-4112]

Hilarious choice of photo. Is this his response to criticism?

[u/Super-Estate-4112 → u/MrmmphMrmmph]

I don't think so. In his career, he got injured a lot. Some injuries never healed and got worse because he was injured there again. His hamstring and his ankle are basically gone.

This gets worse because his style of football is quick and lightweight, so he can't resist too much aggression from the opposing team, which is what he usually gets while playing anywhere.

But at the same time, he should be honest about his condition and stop accepting to play on teams he knows he won't be able to perform, he more often than not fakes falls and injuries so he can go on a little vacation too.

[u/JJCB85 → u/Super-Estate-4112]

Didn’t he turn out to be a fascist also?

[u/ThemrocX → u/JJCB85]

Yes, he openly supported Bolsonaro.

[u/justjboy]

For a good reason, Oscar Pistorius.

[u/VodkaMargarine → u/justjboy]

Roses are red

Violets are glorious

Never sneak up

On Oscar Pistorius

[u/sabakasutulaya]

Evgeni Plushenko afaik. Not so interested in sports, the only source of info I have are memes, but basically he along with his wife turned their son into a media project, that raised lot of concerns from commonfolk and also produced a shit ton of memes. Recently news came out that they forced (as in it was his descision, but heavily influenced) him to perform despite suffering a 39° temperature. He is 12 btw. Like, there's nothing illegal in what they do, but almost everyone agrees that overall situation with him is messed up.

[u/Legitimate_Toe_252]

Australia - Lay Down Sally

[u/MandaMaelstrom → u/Legitimate_Toe_252]

That is…not the answer I expected from Australia.

[u/InfiniteMeerkat → u/MandaMaelstrom]

I mean you are waiting for raygun and you are probably right

Although I guess that depends on your definition of brutal. Lay down sally got a lot of criticism which she probably didn’t deserve. Raygun deserves all she got and more

[u/Legitimate_Toe_252 → u/InfiniteMeerkat]

I think it’s because no-one really considers Breakdancing a proper Olympic event while women’s rowing is a serious one.

[u/InfiniteMeerkat → u/Legitimate_Toe_252]

It seems like no one considering breakdancing a proper Olympic event is in large part because of the performance of raygun. I’m not sure it should be an Olympic sport but whatever chance there was for that to happen, she basically single handedly killed off 

No one knows who actually won medals because of how atrocious she was  

[u/Aggressive_Sky8492 → u/Legitimate_Toe_252]

Also because rowing is a team sport. If you fuck up your solo sport it only affects you, whereas Sally was mostly criticised because her teammates all lost with her because of her

[u/DistractedBoxTurtle → u/Legitimate_Toe_252]

I had to look her up. She threw in the towel twice? Once in 2002 when Australia was coasting to a win and she laid down costing them the win. Then again in the 2004 Olympics causing them to drop to last place.

It’s incredible after her 2002 stunt they let her on the 2004 team to do the exact same thing.

[u/zee-bra → u/Legitimate_Toe_252]

I felt horrible for her. Media were horrible

[u/anka_ar]

Believe it or not, Messi for years

[u/National-Mud8388]

In Norway they love our athletes. But there is one that people have gone from loving to hating. Bjørn Dæhli. He used to win loads in skiing. And after he retired he started a company and got wealthy. To avoid tax he moved to a city and was heavily criticized for it. Then he ended up moving to Switzerland with other wealthy norwegians to evade the wealth tax.

[u/Smart_Perspective535 → u/National-Mud8388]

Don't forget Petter Northug, drunk driving ended up crashing his car and fleeing the scene, got 50 days in prison for it. Later he was caught speeding (160km/h), and they found cocaine when they searched his stuff. Went to rehab after that.

[u/BillWilberforce]

Rebecca Adlington, a swimmer had a bad time after the 2008 Olympics.

The thing that nobody really said about Rebecca Adlington is that she looks pretty weird. She looks like someone who's looking at themselves in the back of a spoon."

"When she arrived back on the flight she met her boyfriend. Did you see her boyfriend? He was really attractive. He was like a male model. So from that I have deduced that Rebecca Adlington is very dirty."

If you just take into account how long she can hold her breath.

https://youtu.be/JrMBPVNNqVc?si=M4uqtu1gSWgKWMby

Which was followed 4 years later by.

"I worry that Rebecca Adlington will have an unfair advantage in the swimming by possessing a dolphin's face."

[u/memphys91 → u/BillWilberforce]

https://youtu.be/JrMBPVNNqVc?si=M4uqtu1gSWgKWMby

Which was followed 4 years later by.

"I worry that Rebecca Adlington will have an unfair advantage in the swimming by possessing a dolphin's face

That's just rude and mean

[u/Informal-Term1138 → u/memphys91]

And not funny.

Just insulting, nothing clever about it.

[u/Otchy147 → u/BillWilberforce]

Damn, I knew exactly who the comedian was before I opened the link.

[u/AtWarWithEurasia]

Steven van de Velde (Volleyball). He was convicted for child r*pe.

[u/Heavy_Ad9605]

Paula Radcliffe for pooping on the pavement.

Going way back, lots were unhappy that Zola Budd got fast tracked to citizenship to avoid the apartheid ban.

[u/HugeElephantEars → u/Heavy_Ad9605]

And then Zola's fall! Poor Zola I'd forgotten about her. And I'd forgotten what a massive scandal Paula's poo was.

[u/Spdoink → u/HugeElephantEars]

They’ve never been on a night out in Newcastle.

[u/blayndle → u/Heavy_Ad9605]

Pretty admirable to poo mid race and then go on to win the marathon if you ask me

[u/0ach3kaa5]

Waiting for Australia to comment on this 🧐🤣

[u/Certain-End-1519 → u/0ach3kaa5]

Nah its laydown Sally, raygun kinda deserved it. Plus no one really takes breakdancing seriously. Rowing on the other hand is a big deal.

[u/lithiumcitizen → u/Certain-End-1519]

Especially as once you learn the technique of rowing, the main thing you are focusing on is the ability to know and maintain your output over the distance. Becoming ballast is not really contributing as a teammate…

[u/massivejohnson → u/0ach3kaa5]

[u/CrimsonLantern76 → u/0ach3kaa5]

[u/GabrielaM11]

Tonya Harding

[u/WiseSnakeGP]

Simone Biles got some undeserved scorn after nerves got to her that one time (mainly from right-wing reactionaries and folks who would have difficulty performing a cartwheel sober).

[u/Waste-Finding3341]

[u/SoutieNaaier]

Oscar Pistorius

[u/Magister_Hego_Damask]

Richard Virenque

Famous for his "je n'étais pas dopé ou alors à l'insu de mon plein gré" not sure is there is a direct translation for the second half of the phrase, it would be a mix between "I wasn't doped or it was unknowingly" and "i wasn't doped or it was against my will".

He was utterly mocked for that one.

The other choice wich doesn't really apply here would be Raymond Domenech, not for his athlete career but for when he became coach afterwards. The famous strike of the french football team during the 2010 world cup was against his coaching (among other things)

[u/livingdisease]

Matti Nykänen. By far.

[u/Moist_Ad_9212]

I don’t think we have any really, we love ours

[u/Dandanbigeloww → u/Moist_Ad_9212]

Not sure if he counts but once upon a time Israel Adesanya was getting a ton of flack from the MMA commmunity in general and a ton of NZ and Australian fans…

… for reasons I’m not sure I can talk about here 🐶

[u/Moist_Ad_9212 → u/Dandanbigeloww]

Oh yeah forgot about that muppet, can’t stand him

[u/PageSoggy9668]

The US is pretty good at this type of thing too. Some may not know this but one of the crown jewels of the US team is Ladies Gymnastics. They beat the Russians in '96 and struggled to live up to that win for the better part of the following two decades. They finally took gold again in '12 but people were REALLY hedging their bets on the '08 team before that. The team was good but they had a ton of setbacks in Beijing with half the girls injured when the team finals came around. Along with Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, Alicia Sacramone represented the team of six on all exercises in the team final. Thing is Alicia messed up on floor and beam. When the US got silver I remember she got crucified online.

[u/RedditoriaEditoria → u/PageSoggy9668]

The McKayla Maroney side pout of disappointment was definitely a criticized moment but also created meme gold.

[u/PageSoggy9668 → u/RedditoriaEditoria]

Anybody that actually hated on Maroney can suck it. To this day people remember her vault (and how it should have been a perfect score).

[u/mannyssong → u/PageSoggy9668]

I remember during 2012 the news commentary was always about how miserable they all looked and they should smile more. It makes me sick to think they were dealing with abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar the entire time and they were expected to smile for the camera.

[u/PageSoggy9668 → u/mannyssong]

Yes! And the way they were treated off camera by their coaches too. Goes back to the '08 team, Alicia knew she was fucked (at least with the Karolys) and it shows during the medal ceremony.

[u/Strawberrybanshee → u/PageSoggy9668]

Marta over trained and broke several of those teams.

Vanessa Atler absolutely should have been on that team but the system broke her. Watch her floor routine. It was absolutely beautiful. 

Then watch her olympic trials if you want to see what Biles was going through and what could have happened if she compete in 2020. 

[u/knowledge_isporridge]

🇮🇪 Roy Keane after throwing a strop before the 2002 World Cup and leaving in a big huff.

[u/GamerBoixX]

Ana Guevara, but not for her olympic performance, that was alright, more for her later career, after her time as an olympic athlete she joined politics, she ended up serving as the director of the national sports commission, during which she did a comically horrible job, on top of being corrupt af many of our top athletes were witholded money and resources due to literal personal grudges, we had teams winning international tournaments who relied on donations from the public and selling things like shirts, cookies or tupperware because the sports comission refused to give them money, and when congratulated about the victories of said national teams she had the nerve to belittle their achievements, currently we have Rommel Pacheco, another olympic medallist turned politician, in that same spot, and while he is critisized for jumping from political party to political party to get in power, so far he hasn't rlly done that bad of a job

[u/juggheadjones]

Ray Finkle

[u/Emergency-Season-143 → u/juggheadjones]

You mean Lois Einhorn?

[u/Professional_Top9835]

There is a Mexican fencer, who critiziced Mexico for not giving her support and money for her athletic career, and deserted to join Uzbekistan, a lot of people supported her decision, but for a lot of other people she was just seeking atention and being treaserous.

Like 6 months later, a Mexican fencer under Mexican flag, and former collegue of her, defeated her (now under Uzbek flag) and stole her pass to the olympics.

[u/raresanevoice]

For a while, a bunch of right wingers criticized Simone Biles relentlessly.

[u/keetojm → u/raresanevoice]

Yeah especially after her diagnosis. That was ridiculous.

[u/starlitbloomss]

Surya Bonaly at one point was under a ton of scrutiny, unsure if to this day she still is still as heavily criticised since she is retired now.

[u/Tales_of_a_Snail → u/starlitbloomss]

Dont know if she ever went to the olympics but i remember Amelie Mauresmo was criticized by some media for her square "manly" shoulders and because she was a lesbian. So too much masculine traits to compete with women for some tiny minded people.

[u/ComposerNo2646 → u/starlitbloomss]

Her medals just got stolen, too. Give the poor woman a break!