Tokyo Olympics: Australian website’s ‘weird, offensive’ coverage of teen diver Quan Hongchan blasted by Chinese state media

Name: 14-year-old Chinese diver’s Olympic gold a story of her rise above poverty to perfect score
Uploaded: 2021-08-06T07:07:57.000Z
Duration: 2 min 44 s
Description: 14-year-old Chinese diver’s Olympic gold a story of her rise above poverty to perfect score

Murdoch-owned website’s report on Quan’s sensational 10m platform final display criticised by Global Times for ‘lack of basic human touch’

News.com.au wrote 14-year-old ‘remained entirely pokerfaced’ and ‘did not crack even the slimmest of smiles’ after one of three perfect-10 dives

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Quan Hongchan of China celebrates after winning the women's 10m platform final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: Xinhua

Jonathan Whitein Tokyo

Published: 3:07pm, 6 Aug 2021Updated: 10:02am, 16 Aug 2021

Chinese state media has criticised an Australian news outlet over its coverage of 14-year-old Tokyo Olympics gold medallist diver Quan Hongchan.

The English-language Global Times newspaper took aim at conservative website News.com.au, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, for “weird, offensive words” that “defamed” Quan.

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14-year-old Chinese diver’s Olympic gold a story of her rise above poverty to perfect score

China’s youngest athlete at the Games won gold in the individual 10-metre platform final on Thursday, blowing away the competition with three perfect 10s for a stunning overall score of 466.20.

The Global Times, which comes under the state-run People’s Daily newspaper group, also blasted the Australian website for writing that Quan “remained entirely pokerfaced [and] did not crack even the slimmest of smiles”, that “viewers were shocked at Quan’s reaction”, and that she “looked devastated after being given a perfect score”.

This “was obviously not the case and, in a lack of basic human touch, tried to describe this young gold medallist as an odd, taciturn teenager,” the Global Times wrote.