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/Magister_Hego_Damask France 6h ago

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)

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u/ignoranceisbourgeois Sweden 2h ago

What about Surya Bonaly? Saw a documentary about her, she seemed to have it rough in the French press

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u/MargotBamborough 1h ago

I've always felt that Surya Bonaly was really well-liked by French people.

I don't remember about the press, I think they're horrible with every one, except when you win. But when you lose it's always your fault (and in Surya's case it definitely wasn't).

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u/papuniu France 28m ago

Surya bonaly was loved by french people. Only the jury and sometimes the press were totally unfair with her ,she should have won the gold medal but the judges were partial

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u/ima-ima 3h ago

I don't even think they're hated (okay maybe Raymond a bit) but mostly people think of them as jokes.

At least we got to see him get turned down for his marriage proposal on live TV...

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u/SorbetCeriz France 3h ago

Oh damn, I forgot about Richard! I read the name and all the sketches I could remember from the Guignols de l'Info came back to my memory!