Ranking Seriously? Chinese State Media Athlete Of The Year Gu Ailing Beat Messi To Win The First Place

The Chinese-American "ski goddess" Eileen Gu has become China's most popular sports icon after winning two gold and one silver MEDALS for her country 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.

Among the top 10 athletes of the year ranked by Xinhua News Agency, Gu Ailing won two gold and one silver MEDALS at this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, followed by Messi and Dutch skater Irene Schouten. In addition, this year's Ballon d 'Or winner Karim Benzema (Karim Benzema), tennis "bull" Rafael Nadal (Rafael Nadal), the tennis world champion Iga Swiatek (Iga Swiatek), F1 racing car Verstappen (Max Verstappen), pole-vaulting talent Duprandis (Armand) Duplantis and others also made the list.

However, Gu Ailing's popularity, life story and influence are far less than Messi who just won the World Cup, and the list has also made some netizens question, "Why does the Winter Olympics this unpopular project touch China football", "ranking is a big joke", "You ask Gu Ailing she dares to put herself ahead of Messi?" "Gu Ailing takes two gold, Messi one gold."