Medals and mobs: China's 'toxic' sports fans face crackdown
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans.
They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling "toxic fandom" and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it.
Some of the adulation towards China's sports stars has been more sinister -- fans obsessing over athletes' personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges.
Experts say it mirrors the kind of behaviour once reserved for entertainment celebrities.
Quan has been the focus of intense interest since winning two Olympic diving titles at the Paris Games, adding to the gold she took home from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
Such is the clamour surrounding her, with people mobbing her hometown in rural Guangdong, that she avoided goin
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans.
They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling "toxic fandom" and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it.
Some of the adulation towards China's sports stars has been more sinister -- fans obsessing over athletes' personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges.
Experts say it mirrors the kind of behaviour once reserved for entertainment celebrities.
Quan has been the focus of intense interest since winning two Olympic diving titles at the Paris Games, adding to the gold she took home from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
Such is the clamour surrounding her, with people mobbing her hometown in rural Guangdong, that she avoided goin
1 yr. ago
