Chinese diplomats slammed Reuters as “ugly” for a photo the media outlet used in a report about the country’s gold-medal winning weightlifter Zhihui Hou, who’s in danger of losing her top spot on the podium as she undergoes testing by anti-doping authorities.
“Among all the photos of the game, @Reuters has chosen this one, which only shows how ugly they are,” the Chinese embassy of Sri Lanka tweeted Saturday in response to the report detailing Hou’s top medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics.
“Don’t put politics and ideologies above sports, and call yourself an unbiased media organization. Shameless,” the embassy’s tweet continued.
The photo that caused the uproar is just an action shot of Hou lifting a weight with a strained expression on her face.
Following the record-breaking win, a source with knowledge of the information told the Asia News International wireservice Hou “has been asked to stay in Tokyo” to undergo an anti-doping test.
If she fails, the gold will go to India’s Mirabai Chanu, who came in second to Hou.
On Sunday, China’s state-run newspaper the Global Times ran a story on the “controversial photo” that said some Western media organizations were “unfairly targeting China” in their Olympics coverage.
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