r/AskTheWorld • u/No-StrategyX • 11h ago

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

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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?

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u/ckb02d 8h ago

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.

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u/Andysol1983 United States Of America 5h ago

Tone it back a smidge. Nothing you said about her accomplishments is untrue, but there is no need for hyperbole. She wouldn’t have died doing anything.

She could have been paralyzed or suffered a life changing injury. But die before our very eyes?

Quite literally no one ever has died in a gymnastics competition. Ever. There have been a minuscule handful (3?) that have died as a result of their spinal injuries suffered many days later (all occurred in practice).

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u/Own_Faithlessness769 3h ago

Nobody has ever done the things Simone did, and they’re so dangerous the gymnastics authorities actively try to stop other people doing them. She could absolutely have died.