The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has gathered elite athletes from all over the world. In addition to their performances at the competition, athletes’ appearances have also become a hot topic amongst netizens.
For example, Chinese national women’s water polo team captain, Xiong Dunhan, had attracted netizens’ attention earlier this week when a photo of her went viral.
Born in Yueyang City in the Hunan Province, Xiong is likened to celebrities such as Cecilia Cheung and Meng Jia, when her photo after training went viral. Netizens praise her for her defined facial features and proportionate body shape.
Xiong has been training with the Chinese national team for nearly 10 years, and had won the Asian Youth Championship in 2013. This will be her second time competing in the Olympics.
However, after the photo went viral, netizens uncovered Xiong’s 2018 interview photos and videos, which showed her looking different from the viral photos.
As a result, some netizens started dissing Xiong, saying that she had gone overboard with Photoshop. Some, however, took Xiong’s side, telling others to “focus on her performance on the field and not just her looks.”
Regarding her edited photos, Xiong had once said: “Sports is my profession, and putting in hard work is my duty. However, looking pretty is what every girl wants! I love using camera filters, and I recommend TV stations photoshop a charming smile on me before they play my videos.”
After realising her photo went viral, Xiong posted a Weibo update with a video of her performance during a water polo game. “Thank you for those who found photos of my 2018 interview, but don’t just look at the interview. Watch the whole competition,” Xiong wrote in her caption. “Different physiques are adaptable to different positions in water polo games, so I hope netizens can look at this calmly.” (Yahoo sports)