What not to ask a woman shot putter

A Chinese state media interview with the country’s Olympic gold-medal-winning shot putter Gong Lijiao has triggered a backlash online.

As reported in The Independent:

On Sunday, the 32-year-old athlete, who had won the gold medal in women’s shot put final, was being interviewed by the sports correspondent of CCTV, who, before asking her anything about her event, described her as a “masculine woman”, reported SupChina.

Gong Lijiao, who had previously won the Olympic medal twice in shot put, but not gold, secured it this time with her personal best of 20.58 metres.

The two-time world champion, however, politely replied: “I might look like a manly woman from outside, but I still feel like a little girl inside.” The reporter, however, was relentless and continued with the same line of questioning.

The questions steadily got more bizarre. She asked Lijiao what her next step was “as a girl.”

She asked: “You used to be a masculine woman for the sake of shot put. Going forward, can you finally be yourself?”

The gold medal winner, who was not comfortable with the question, maintained her composure and said: “It really depends on my future plan. If I eventually quit shot put, then I will probably lose some weight, get married, and have children. The path that everyone has to take in life.”

Even after that, the reporter continued with the strange line of questioning and asked the Olympic medallist about the kind of partner she was looking for and whether they would be intimidated by her in arm wrestling.