Netizens can be brutal behind the "protected" screen.

China's shuttler, Chen Long, suffers from these brutalities. Chen Long, hope of defending his Olympic Gold, but he lost to Denmark's Viktor Axelson in the badminton singles final.

Viktor Axelsen became the first non-Asian man to win the badminton singles title since 1996 when he won 21-15, 21-12 to Chen Long.

According to the statistics, Chen Long has a historical advantage over Viktor Axelson, as Chen won 14 times and lost only five times against Viktor.

The Chinese netizen berated Chen Long, calling him "useless",  "disgrace", "hurry up and move aside. Don't hold up the development of Chinese badminton", etc.

This lead to Chen Long apologised openly on his Weibo for his defeat.

Image source via Weibo

"I'm very sorry that I have failed to defend the men's singles title at the Tokyo Olympics, but I can't achieve this without your support and cheers. The Olympic spirit and the Chinese spirit of striving for self-improvement have always been my motivation. I'm grateful to China for grooming me. Finally, I sincerely wish China's badminton team will achieve greater heights," wrote Chen Long.

Zhang Jun, the head coach of the Chinese Badminton Association, revealed that Chen Long had developed a huge blister on his foot during the competition's group stage, and it turned into a blood blister. 

It was so bad that "he could hardly run", said head coach Zhang.  

“Chen Long had two big blisters on the sole of his foot which affected his movements. But he didn’t give up and fought hard for every point,” said Zhang Jun, adding that Chen Long’s fighting spirit touched him.

Netizens should learn to be a little kinder to one another, especially when we don't know the other side of the story. The athletics worked so hard just to be able to perform on the world stage. Stay safe and be kind.