Athletes at Paris Olympics Subject to Rampant Online Abuse; IOC Sought to Ease Harm But Could Not Prevent Posts

By Takaaki Suzuki and Cynthia Yumiko Staub / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

17:25 JST, August 14, 2024

Athletes at the Paris Olympics were subjected to insults and harsh criticism on social media during the Games, which concluded on Sunday. Such posts have become increasingly common amid international competitions, and many comments during the Paris event judged the athletes, ridiculed their appearance, or expressed racist beliefs.

Volleyball player Taishi Onodera was barraged with insults after he failed to make a match point serve in the final set of Japan’s narrow loss in the men’s volleyball quarterfinals at the Paris Games on July 5. “Blame yourself and retire” was one example of the posts that appeared.

Onodera, 28, said on his X account that he also received direct messages insulting him.

Social media posts told race walker Ayane Yanai, 20, things like “you’re selfish” after she announced that she would not participate in the women’s 20-kilometer event, in order to concentrate on the mixed relay marathon.

“I was hurt by the harsh words from many people,” Yanai said on X on July 29.

Uta Abe burst into tears after losing by ippon in the second round of the 52-kilogram division of women’s judo. “You’re a disgrace as a martial artist,” one comment said.

The Yomiuri Shimbun analyzed 112 posts that insulted seven Japanese athletes on social media platforms such as X and Instagram. It found that 60% of these posts judged the athletes, saying things like “you’re a disgrace as a Japanese person” and “your conduct is unbecoming for a martial artist.”

The Yomiuri also saw that 20% of the posts were unrelated to sports. Instead they ridiculed athletes’ appearance, or involved sexual harassment or racism.

“In many cases, people don’t realize their posts are insulting because they assume athletes accept criticism as part of being a pro,” said Associate Professor Shinichi Yamaguchi of the International University of Japan. “Athletes are human beings, too. Before you post, take a moment to read the message again, to consider whether you would want to be told something like that.”

The onus on social media operators will likely increase. A bill to oblige major operators to swiftly deal with insults was passed in May, and it will go into effect by next May.

Social media has become an important tool for athletes to interact with their fans. Athletes share their opinions and the appeal of the events, while fans send messages to them. However, it has so far been difficult to prevent insulting posts, so measures have mainly been taken to ease the psychological harm to athletes during the Paris Games.

The International Olympic Committee installed a “mind zone” in the Olympic village for the first time to help athletes relax and mentally prepare for competition, and over 2,000 people used it. The IOC also introduced an AI system to detect slanderous posts on athletes’ accounts. According to the committee, it identified 80,000 such posts a day, but it could not prevent them.

Mitugi Ogata, head of the Japanese Olympic delegation, said: “Athletes put their lives on the line, metaphorically and sometimes literally,for the Olympics. It’s understandable to evaluate their performance in the event of a loss, but I wish people would stop the slander and abuse.”