Questionable Calls Bring Accusations Of Chinese Cheating To 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

February 8th, 2022 - 12:09 PM EST by Adam Downer

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Ren ziwei short skating final depicting a chinese athlete bumping an italian athlete during the race.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are in full swing, and as with seemingly every Olympics, the globe is hurling accusations of biased judging towards the host country: China.


A pair of controversial calls in speed skating that elevated Chinese athletes to the podium have athletes miffed and social media buzzing with controversy. The first came in the Group One Women’s 500m Short Track Speed Skating quarterfinal. During the race, Canadian skater Alyson Charles took a tumble after a course marker is dislodged and hits her skate, taking out Chinese skater Kexin Fan as well. Canadian skater Florence Brunelle was penalized for the incident. However, the video replay clearly shows that it is Fan's hand that dislodges the marker, causing the crash, leading to much debate over whether the contact was incidental or intentional.

Apparently this is got deleted off Reddit. Chinese athletes "sportsmanship" in speed skating.


Charles was ultimately allowed to advance given her placement before the incident and that the crash wasn't her fault. She ended up finishing fourth in the semi-final, third in the B final and eighth overall.

The second incident came in the Men's 1,000m final. As Hungary's Liu Shaolin and China's Ren Ziwei went into the final turn, the pair collided, and Ziwei dragged Liu down with his arms, which would appear to be a clear infraction to anyone with a basic understanding of the sport.


Despite the clear tackle, judges ruled in favor of Ziwei, saying that Liu illegally changed lanes and caused the contact, and that he impeded Ziwei with his left arm before taking a tumble. Liu was assessed two penalties and disqualified, while Ziwei was not penalized at all. Ziwei's teammate Li Wenlong was elevated to silver, and Shaolin's brother Liu Shaoang was able to take bronze.

The pair of incidents led to a global outcry from fans online who suspect the games are rigged in the host country's favor. Social media expressed their disgust at the results, with many using the controversy to hurl politically and racially motivated insults towards the Chinese.


By virtue of being in China, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were always going to be controversial, and it appears the sketchiness of the calls is confirming people's priors about the country, regardless of whether the gripes are legitimate.



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