Malaysia’s Olympics hurt, triumph, disaster – and online abuse

 

Things fall apart. Years of painstaking preparation, and all of a sudden the Olympics dream has gone, and it’s not coming back.

National track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang sat alone in the pit of the velodrome and turned to stone, gutted that he could not deliver Malaysia’s first Olympics gold medal.

It’s hard to imagine many athletes will leave the Paris Olympics as disappointed as Azizulhasni, whose appearance at his fifth Olympiad since Beijing 2008 allowed Malaysians to join together, not pull each other apart.

At first it felt like a kind of healing that we had experienced when badminton reaped two bronze medals for a country riven by discord and division, by polarising politics and by racial disharmony.

Then disaster struck. The 36-year-old sporting gem, who overcame a life-threatening heart condition, and made sacrifices to go for that elusive gold for the country, was disqualified in the men’s keirin event.

Hearts break. C’est la vie (that’s life).

One mistake doesn’t determine a life of dedication and honour but almost immediately, his disqualification for overtaking the derny before it pulled off the track, sparked online vitriol.

Things became nasty and niggly.

That perfect guy whom you wish will either be your son or your brother, who has been brought up the right way, was uncharacteristically under fire.

A hero known for his high-performance weapons of glory, humility and gratitude, and one who everyone expected to turn into an immortal hero, became a zero to some.

There were calls for people to be kind to Azizulhasni and his team during this difficult time. 

Be kind with your words,

 sports minister Hannah Yeoh offered.

Nicol David, Malaysia’s deputy chef de mission in Paris, said: 

If there is someone who is heartbroken today it is him, who is in incredible pain and disappointment and we should be here to lend a shoulder and a helping hand.

We cannot hurt someone who already is in pain – that’s not what we do when someone is on the ground.

Cheers and curses

It’s inevitable that cheers will come side by side with noxious words or phrases, such as curses or racial slurs.

That’s not new in this age of online volatility. But could social media criticism that negatively affects athletes’ mental health, as communications minister Fahmi Fadzil says, tantamount to cyberbullying?

For some, most certainly.

Unfortunately in the issue of criticism and cyberbullying of athletes, Fahmi, who said some of the comments directed at the national athletes were “quite harsh, left it wide open for many to slam him for a supposed vainglorious stunt trotted out without a moment’s thought.

Some said his comments reflected a nation turning its athletes into softies, others claimed our performers in Paris lacked the ability to accept criticism.

Compared to criticism, cyberbullying is purely destructive and often does not contain truth in reference to the target. The main purpose is to maim the victim emotionally, not to help them in any way.

As journalists, we are always told to criticise constructively, never insult. On social media anything and everything toxic goes, with total disregard to the targets and their families.

At a time when the world of sport has placed a growing focus on mental health in its efforts to protect athlete wellbeing, it is worrying that the role social media plays in that equation isn’t talked about enough in Malaysia.

Athletes are not robots

To keep athletes safe from cyberbullying and abuse, an AI algorithm waded through oceans of content social media users were posting about the 2024 Olympics.

The aim was to defuse online hate, coordinated abuse, harassment and even threats of violence.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) estimated that the Olympics would generate more than half a billion social media posts. That doesn’t even include the torrent of comments.

Thousands of athletes and officials were subjected to intense attention while they were steering through high-pressure chapters of their careers.

That mountain of attention posed a serious risk for Olympians’ mental health and their performance at the Games.

Online abuse has been mounting in elite sport, with many high profile sportsmen and women calling for more to be done to protect them.

The English Football Association, for example, has funded a special police unit to help them prosecute anyone who abuses England’s players on social media.

Different kinds of abuse bring different challenges. Some cyber harassment clearly flouts social media rules, such as hate speech involving race, sexuality or nationality.

That’s easier to deal with because the material is so clearly offensive that platforms can just remove it.

In cases where the content is adverse but less acute, the platforms’ desire to protect free speech means they can’t always delete the material.

That’s why sport organisations, coaches and others need to ensure athletes have the support they need.

One of the biggest problems is that many sports organisations in Malaysia do not have any system in place to tackle online abuse.

Where highly exposed athletes are more likely to face online attacks, part of that solution involves changing norms and attitudes among the athletes themselves.

That includes the IOC’s 

mindful social media course

 which is meant to help athletes understand how both positive and negative content online can affect their mental health, teach a range of strategies and coping techniques and identify resources for additional support.

Obviously it’s hard for athletes to stay off their phones, internet comments or delete social media during a tournament, but that would be a start to show their commitment to foster psychologically safe environments.

Before the dawn of the internet, athletes were told by their coaches not to read the newspapers. At the 1975 hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, the Pakistan team refused to have newspapers delivered to their hotel rooms.

It’s time to change the way we think about athletes, who are not robots.

Online venom is a societal problem and our language as spectators, politicians, sports and community leaders needs checking. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.