2 Medal-Winning Chinese Female Athletes Are Accused Of Actually Being Men

• Two female runners recently earned medals after competing in a relay race in Japan.
• However, the athletes are making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
• The female runners are being accused of being men posing as women to compete in the womens’ division.

Two Chinese athletes are going viral for a reason. The female runners, who won medals for competing in a relay race, are being accused of actually being men.

Liao Mengxue and Tong Zhenhuan are part of the Hunan women tracking team that recently competed at the 2019 IAAF World Relays in Yokohoma, Japan. The two 24-year-old athletes and their two teammates nabbed the fourth place at the 4 × 400 meters relay. However, their photos are currently confusing netizens who are convinced that the runners are actually male.

The four-member female team is going viral because two of them are being accused of being men.

Interestingly, it was the Chinese media that initially questioned the genders of the two athletes. Chinese netizens pointed out that Liao and Tong look like men who decided to compete as females. Others also wondered if the two were taking performance-enhancing drugs that may have led to their masculine features like strong jawlines and underarm hair.

People pointed out that Liao didn’t even bother to shave her armpits.

Naturally, it didn’t take long before the photos went viral. However, this isn’t the first time that Liao and Tong were singled out for their looks.

In July, they were part of another four-member team that represented Hunan and took home the gold at the National Athletics Championships in Shenyang in China. Even then, people questioned Liao and Tong’s genders based on their appearance.

Liao and Tong have been quite controversial throughout the year.

Although most people are questioning their gender, some are also defending Liao and Tong on the internet. They pointed out that people were being petty for making fun of the girls’ appearance and stated that netizens were just jealous of their achievements.

The Chinese Athletic Association has confirmed that both Liao and Tong are female.