During a skating competition on Saturday, two Chinese athletes briefly handled a missile-shaped plush toy that was thrown by spectators while awaiting their performance results. While some foreign media outlets have appeared to amplify the incident, expert and netizens have characterized it as an isolated occurrence.
The International Skating Union (ISU) has launched an investigation on the incident, CNN, citing a statement from ISU, reported Wednesday.
Footage from the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Cup of China event on October 25 shows Chinese skater Xing Jianing and coach Zheng Xun briefly handling a spectator-thrown “DF-61” plush toy while waiting to see what scores the pair would be awarded, before passing it to teammate Ren Junfei, who held it up alongside another stuffed animal.
Foreign media outlets, such as CNN and AP, claimed that the “DF-61” designation corresponds to China’s Dong Feng-61 land-based intercontinental ballistic missile.
“The ISU is aware that an inappropriate soft toy seems to have been among those thrown onto the ice by spectators following a performance at the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Cup of China event on 25 October,” claimed a statement from the skating governing body to CNN Sports.
“The soft toy was subsequently held by the skaters who had just performed. The ISU regrets the incident and will investigate further,” according to the statement, CNN reported.
Xing and Ren placed eighth in the ice dance competition at the Cup of China with a score of 143.92. American pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates won with a score of 208.25, according to CNN.
The Global Times has contacted the ISU for comment and updates on the investigation. No response had been received as of press time.
According to some Chinese analysts, throwing gifts such as flowers and stuffed toys to athletes has been a tradition in figure skating, serving as a form of interaction and encouragement. Displaying these gifts has also become a customary practice among skaters. However, some foreign media outlets have seemingly attempted to hype the incident.
On X, some netizens commented on the incident in English.
“Who gave them the toy? They seem uninterested so looks like someone pushed it into their area…” said a netizen.
Another netizen commented that the toy may have been a fan novelty rather than an intentional provocation, noting that “The skaters didn’t bring the thing, some random fan threw it to them. It doesn’t look like they were thinking, ‘Oh good, an ICBM [Intercontinental ballistic missile].'”
A Chinese netizen commented on Sina Weibo that the ISU’s probe result will serve as a test case for whether sports governing bodies can uphold “fact-based fairness.” Another called for foreign media not to overreact.
“The Chinese athletes merely briefly handled the toy that was thrown from the stands. It is clear that the presence of a missile-shaped toy stemmed entirely from an isolated act by an individual spectator. It must be acknowledged that while awaiting their scores, the athletes’ focus was completely on the competition results,” Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday after watching the video.
Regular viewers of sports events understand that athletes are under immense tension at that moment, with no attention to spare for what they might be holding. “Therefore, this matter does not warrant overinterpretation,” Lü said.
Calling this as an isolated incident, Lü believes that making a fuss is pointless, emphasizing the athletes are blameless.
The expert expressed hope that the ISU would render a fair judgment based on facts and prevent the incident from being sensationalized.
