Ranking Seriously? China's Official Athlete Of The Year Gu Ailing Beat Messi To The No

The Chinese-American "ski goddess" Eileen Gu has become China's most popular sports icon after winning two gold MEDALS and one silver at this year's Winter Olympics in Beijing. China's official Xinhua News Agency recently named Gu Ailing the top 10 international athletes of 2022, beating Argentina's World Cup winner Lionel Messi to the top spot, sparking heated discussion on Weibo.

According to Xinhua's top 10 athletes of the year, Gu Ailing, who won two gold MEDALS and one silver medal at this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, ranked first, followed by Messi and Irene Schouten of the Netherlands. This year's Ballon d 'Or winner Karim Benzema, Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek, Max Verstappen, pole vaulting genius Armand Duprandis Duplantis and others also made the list.

However, Gu's popularity, life story and influence are far less than that of Messi, who has just won the World Cup. Some netizens have also asked, "Why should such a rare Olympic sport be allowed to play soccer?", "Ranking is a big joke", "Ask Gu if she dares to put herself ahead of Messi?" "Gu Ailing takes two gold, Messi one gold".