'All Chinese skiers look the same’: commentator explains herself

An Australian Olympics commentator has been forced to explain that when she said that all Chinese skiers “look the same,” she was speaking about their technique, not their physical appearance.

Former Olympian Jacqui Cooper made the poorly phrased comment during a broadcast last week of the women’s aerial freestyle ski event in Pyeongchang on Australia Channel 7. Here’s how she described Chinese skier Yan Ting’s performance:

“Real nicely done, great control, very Chinese. They all look the same, they’re very hard to tell who’s who.”

The comment quicky sparked a bit of outrage on social media, forcing Cooper to explain just what she had meant. “I need to make it clear I was talking about the jump. The Chinese are trained by one coach with one technique, their aim is all to jump the same,” she tweeted.

In addition, Channel 7 has also come to Cooper’s defense, declaring that “at no time was the commentary racist, intended to be racist or offensive.”

Channel 7 last hurt the feelings of the Chinese people during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when it mixed up the flag of China with that of Chile.

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