“Kim Ye-ji is there, but no China or Japan”… Controversy over racial discrimination in Olympic poster

Only 3 Asians in commemorative poster
‘Where are the Chinese and Japanese athletes who finished 2nd and 3rd’,

2024 Paris Olympics commemorative poster. Photo = EuroSports X (X · former Twitter),
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, ‘Amid the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, it was engulfed in controversy for discriminating against a specific race.’,
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, “On the 12th, European sports broadcaster ‘Eurosport’ produced and unveiled a poster commemorating the Paris Olympics. The poster featured Paris’s landmark Eiffel Tower, the Olympic rings, and the appearances of several athletes who won medals.”,
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, ‘However, the poster came under fire for intentionally discriminating against Asians. In various sports, medalists from different events each received a spot, but it was hard to find Asians. Only three Asians, including Korea’s Kim Ye-ji in shooting and Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec in athletics shot put, were included.’,
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, ‘Asian netizens raised doubts about this issue. In particular, China and Japan achieved 2nd and 3rd places in this Olympics respectively, with a combined total of 136 medals. Despite this, both countries’ citizens were furious that not a single person from their countries was included in the poster.’,
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Shooting athlete Kim Ye-ji [Image source=Yonhap News],
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, ‘Some argued that the athletes were not evaluated solely based on their popularity. In fact, the three Asian athletes featured in the poster were also noteworthy for their performance in the games. In particular, shooting bronze medalist Kim Ye-ji garnered popularity with her overflowing charisma, being likened to an actor in action movies on X (former Twitter).’,
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, ‘Furthermore, while there were only a few Asian athletes, controversies were sparked by the inclusion of stars like Tom Cruise and Snoop Dogg who have no connection to the Paris Olympics. It appears that these two were included for promotional purposes for the 2028 LA Olympics.’,
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, ‘Netizens expressed reactions such as “Why are there no Chinese and Japanese athletes when Tom Cruise is there”, “France is not qualified to host the Olympics”, and “The Paris Olympics is the worst Olympics ever.”‘,
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