Winter Olympics: US skier says Twitter account suspended after he praised Beijing Games; they get ‘pretty bad media’
- Three-time Olympian Aaron Blunck says China has ‘done a stellar job’, while criticising biased coverage of the Games
- Snowboarder Tessa Maud says she has tears in her eyes when she recalls how warmly she was welcomed on arrival in Beijing
Three-time Olympian Aaron Blunck said he was suspended from Twitter after he and his US ski teammates praised China for its “stellar” operations at the Olympic Village.
“They have honestly done a stellar job with the whole Covid protocol,” the 25-year-old told reporters in the press room, before criticising biased coverage of the Games.
“I didn’t really know what to expect, being stateside you’ve kind of heard some pretty bad media, and that is completely false – it’s actually been phenomenal.”
The 25-year-old said his Twitter account was then suspended, as he resorted to Instagram to protest the social platform’s unexplained decision, reposting a fan’s comment that read: “Aaron Blunck [is] out here telling the truth and getting punished by his own government.”
But a search of the internet archive indicates the account was suspended in September last year, and in response to queries about the skier’s account, the social media platform said it was “suspended in error and has since been recovered”.
Blunck further shared a commentator’s tweet accusing the US government of being behind his account being shut down: “Twitter has executed the order of the Western ruling cabals … Punishment comes pretty fast.” Blunck tagged Twitter and asked: “what’d I do?”
The Colorado native has been representing his country since he was 15 years old, when he won a bronze medal at the inaugural 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
He has gone on to have a distinguished sporting career, winning gold medals at the World Championships and the Winter X Games.
“Everybody – from staff, to Covid testers, to accommodation – it’s probably, honestly, one of the better Olympics that we’ve been to,” Blunck added.
Blunck’s account was searchable on Twitter as of Wednesday morning, hours after this story’s publication, with his last tweet being from July 2021.
His sentiments were echoed by 27-year-old teammate Alex Ferreira, who said: “I just think all the people and the staff within the Olympic Village are so genuine and kind, they’re such a happy [community] … it’s just refreshing and it’s nice to see.”
Ferreira is an equally outstanding skier who won silver in half-pipe at the 2018 Games, and six medals – two each of gold, silver and bronze – at the Winter X Games.
The USA ski team are not the only Americans impressed by the Games’ internal arrangements.
Snowboarder Tessa Maud, who has been giving fans a behind-the-scenes look into her life in Beijing through daily vlogs, said she shed tears of joy as volunteers welcomed her to the Games.
“All the volunteers are so sweet and so kind. They are just so happy that we are here. We feel so welcomed,” she said in a video, while noting that she “tear[s] up every time” thinking about the staff who welcomed her.
Maud told US media INSIDER that the food served in the bubble was “the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, hands down”, adding that while China’s culinary culture is vastly different from her hometown’s, “it’s really refreshing and just nice to see the [Chinese people’s] appreciation for the animal that you’re eating and, like, the appreciation for the food”.
