Kuala Lumpur: According to Korea Times, the Badminton Korea Association (BAK) has officially filed a complaint to Badminton World Federation (BWF) about Chinese women’s doubles player, Chen Qingchen’s conduct on the badminton court during the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The World No. 2 women’s doubles player, Chen Qingchen, repeatedly shouted “Wo Cao”, equivalent of “F-word” in English, in the last Group D match against World No. 5 Kim So-yeong/Kong Hee-yong of Korea on July 27.
Chen was swearing in frustration when she and teammate Jia Yifan, lost their first game in the competition.
During the second game, she yelled the expletive several more times at high-intensity moments, including when she and Jia scored points.
Chen and her partner Jia Yifan ended up defeating Kim/Kong 19-21, 21-16, 21-14 to top Group D.
China’s Olympic team for women’s badminton doubles repeatedly yelled “Fuck!” (操, cao in pinyin) when playing against the South Korean team.
This is unbelievably ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/EBHCeIl2To
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) July 28, 2021
Later that night, Chen clarified on her own social media platform saying she was trying to encourage herself during the match and was merely making inaccurate pronunciation.
昨天的奧運會場上，出現了奧運史上最怪奇的場景之一。
中國羽球女子雙打選手陳清晨，抗議對手韓國隊擊球時喊聲太大聲，抗議未果後，竟然發聲反制。
她在得分時高喊「操！」、「我操！」、「我操你媽！」、「我去你媽的！」，整場比賽都是她在罵髒話的聲音。 pic.twitter.com/pMEqZd5gr9
— MrX (@HelpSoshk) July 28, 2021
However, the Chinese player was heard screaming the same profanities when they met Kim/Kong again in the semi-final match. Chen/Jia eventually defeated Kim/Kong 21-15, 21-11.
South Korean media has started to report this controversy and it has prompted widespread criticism towards the two Chinese players.
#Olympics July, 27 — Chinese competitor Chen Qingchen shouting F**k to “encourage herself” during women’s doubles badminton game with Korea.
Just… What? pic.twitter.com/612CzvIGOO— Eileen Chang 😷⛑🥽🌂🧤🇭🇰 (@EileenEChang) July 28, 2021
The complaint was directed to the BWF, instead of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the latter doesn’t have rulings against swearing in games.
Under the BWF regulations rule below, it clearly stated players should not use profanities that are loud enough to be heard by the umpire and spectators.
BWF Statutes, Section 2.2.4:
CODE OF CONDUCT: PLAYERS
Players are responsible for their on-court presentation, behaviour, conduct and
performance including the following:
3.2.9. Not using words commonly known and understood in any language to be profane or indecent and uttered clearly and loudly enough to be heard by the umpire or spectators.
Besides Chen, Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown also couldn’t control her emotions right after winning a gold medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020 in the 100m backstrokes. When she was asked by Australian media about what she would like to say to her mother and sister who are watching, McKeown replied, “F*** yeah” and then covered her mouth after realizing what she exactly said.
Adam Peaty of Great Britain who became the first British swimmer in history to successfully defend an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, also said he was “f—ing relieved” and that he won because he “f—ing” wanted it more.
Another example was when Danish sailor Anne-Marie Rindom won Denmark’s first Olympic gold in Tokyo, she said “F—, it’s so cool”.
