Photograph of China’s women’s 100m hurdles winner hugging another Chinese athlete at the Asian Games is CENSORED in their homeland… but can you figure out why?
- Photo of Chinese female athletes hugging each other, censored by media and government
- Lin Yuwei celebrated her gold medal win with Wu Yanni at the Asian Games
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A photo of Chinese athlete Lin Yuwei hugging her opponent Wu Yanni at the end of the 100 meters hurdles has been censored in their home country.
Lin won the race at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and hugged her fellow Chinese athlete in an emotional moment.
Yet the image was deleted or edited by the Chinese media after just a few hours because sports fans had not even thought about it.
The image was censored by people in Beijing due to its connotation with a historic day in the country’s history.
In the photo, the two athletes are wearing the numbers 6 and 4, and while this may seem like nothing more than track numbers to fans, those in Beijing have banned the numbers on social media due to the link to the date June 4, 1989.
The image of Chinese athlete Lin Yuwei hugging her opponent Wu Yanni was banned in China
Lin won the gold medal in the 100 meter hurdles at the Asian Games on Sunday evening
A day remembered for the Tiananmen Square massacre, where Chinese troops shot dead hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing.
The massacres remain one of the most censored topics in China, where mentions are routinely scrubbed from the internet.
Once the image of Yuwei and Yanni was in circulation, the photo was removed by the Chinese government.
Everything mentioned was grayed out by Weibo, the largest Chinese social media platform.
The censorship wasn’t the only drama surrounding the race; Yanni was initially disqualified from competing after a false start.
Numbers 6 and 4 were censored for their ties to the Tiananmen Square massacre
Chinese troops shot dead hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators on June 4, 1989
However, officials then showed the disqualified card to Indian Jyothi Yarraji, who ran alongside the Chinese athlete.
India protested the decision and Yarraji was reinstated, while Yanni was disqualified instead.
Yarraji finished second, while Yanni still ran under protest, but was disqualified on the final athletics sheet.
The race also attracted controversy over a false start made by Wu Yanni (left)