Report: China’s Uyghur Torchbearer Vanishes After Poor Showing at Ski Event

The Wall Street Journal revealed on Sunday that Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a Uyghur athlete who China made an Olympic torchbearer for the Opening Ceremonies, violated Olympic rules and failed to meet journalists after a poor performance on Saturday.

Upon Yilamujiang’s 43rd place finish in the cross-country ski event, she did not pass through the mandatory media zone for interviews, a violation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules, according to the Journal. Reporters waited indefinitely for her, as no officials notified them that she would not be coming. The newspaper noted that her whereabouts remain unknown to foreign reporters at the time of the article’s publication.

The IOC declined to comment to the Journal on Yilamujiang’s absence. Likewise, China’s National Olympic Committee did not respond to the publication’s request for comment.

After the event, Yilamujiang’s name was reportedly barely mentioned by Chinese state media.

“Though Ms. Yilamujiang wasn’t available to answer journalists’ questions after Saturday’s race, China’s state-run broadcaster did have an exclusive interview, in which she expressed incredulity at having been entrusted with the role of torchbearer,” the Journal reported. – READ MORE