Tokyo Olympics: China blasts media house for 'ugly' picture of athlete, faces backlash

China has been enraged over a photo taken by news agency Reuters of weightlifting gold medalist Hou Zhihui. Diplomats and a media outlet in China have criticized the news agency for displaying an "ugly" photo among those taken during the game. Hou Zhihui of China won gold in the women's 49kg weightlifting event on the first day at the Tokyo Olympics.

She won the gold medal after lifting a total of 210kg, which was an Olympic record. On Twitter, Reuters reported on Hou's victory. China was enraged at the photograph used in the story.  "Don’t put politics and ideologies above sports, and call yourself an unbiased media organization. Shameless."

China's Global Times then published an article accusing Reuters of "unfairly targeting China", claiming the image was "widely regarded as disrespectful". They wrote, "Pls respect Olympics spirit @Reuters! Chinese embassy @ChinaEmbSL slammed Reuters' selection of an ugly photo of weightlifting gold winner Hou Zhihui. "Don't put politics and ideologies above sports, and call yourself an unbiased media organization. Shameless," the embassy posted." Here's the tweet by the agency:

Netizens' Reaction

Several netizens responded angrily to the Chinese embassy's post, accusing them of defaming the photograph. A person went on to write, "I think it's a well-captured photograph, which shows nothing good in life comes easy. It's up to the person viewing the picture to interpret it, but most will appreciate this. It's quite sad that the embassy finds this "ugly." If it was a beauty pageant then it's a different matter."

Another user tweeted, "Wake up and recognize the beauty inherent in athletic achievement - which comes from effort. If it were easy, you could do it. You're focusing on the wrong thing. What's shameless is your failure to grasp what's meaningful about the image."

Hou Zhihui came within three kilograms of beating the world record. She, on the other hand, stated that she was unconcerned about the record and simply wanted to enjoy the Games. “I just wanted to enjoy the Games. I don’t care about the world record or something,” she said. “I just want to be myself, be all of myself.”