What’s Buzzing: News You Didn’t Ask For But Should Know (Olympic Edition Jul 25-Aug 1)

After being pushed back for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games 2020 is finally underway in Tokyo. The sports extravaganza, where the world’s top athletes convene, takes place from July 23 to Aug 8, 2021. As with past editions of the Games, there are athletes who go viral for both positive and, well, less than positive reasons.

Check out our update below.

Watch the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on MeWATCH and Ch 5 from Jul 23 to Aug 8.

Team China’s water polo captain Xiong Dunhan made netizens’ hearts go aflutter with her stunning Weibo photos, with some comparing her viral looks to Hong Kong star Cecilia Cheung. Well, that was until they discovered old photos and videos of Xiong in a 2018 interview, in which she looked dramatically different from her current glamour shots. Xiong responded by snarking on Weibo: “Thank you to those who found photos of my 2018 interview, but don't just look at the interview. Watch the whole competition.”

Anucha “Cha” Saengchart, aka the Thai creator of the massively popular Facebook page Low Cost Cosplay, spoofed Olympian swimmer Joseph Schooling with a bucket of water. “If you lose weight you'll look exactly like him,” commented a savage fan. At least there’s water on hand for that burn.

German coach Claudiu Pusa was given a serious official warning by the International Judo Federation for grabbing judo athlete Martyna Trajdos by the collar before her match and shaking her violently before slapping her on both sides of her face. Trajdos, who lost her women’s 63kg elimination round to Hungarian Szofi Ozbas, defended Pusa on Twitter by saying: “My coach is just doing what I want him to do to fire me up!”

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev feared for his life playing in Japan’s oppressive summer heat, which reaches up to a high of 35 degrees Celsius during the day. BBC reported that the second seed struggled to breathe during his match, dramatically telling the umpire that “I can finish the match but I can die”. He also asked: “If I die, will the ITF [International Tennis Federation] take responsibility? He later tweeted with a devil emoji that he was “still alive”.

South Korean archer An San won three gold medals for her country at the Tokyo Games, but was criticised by male Korean netizens for her cropped haircut, which they slammed as being “feminist”. They also called for her Olympic titles to be stripped, and demanded that she apologise. Splitting hairs much?