Honored Olympian stirs up controversy

A medal-less Chinese Olympian who was honored by her hometown raised some eyebrows, as some questioned the move's validity.

Zhou Jun failed in all three attempts to lift 95 kg at the women's 53kg group B event on July 29, becoming the country's first-ever weightlifter to draw a blank at the Games.

At a commendation meeting organized by the government of Yichang city, Hubei province, on Thursday, Zhou was awarded with an Olympic Participation Contribution Prize and the Yichang May 4 Youth Medal, along with a bonus of 10,000 yuan.

Zhou Jun, a Chinese weightlifter, was honored at a commendation meeting for Olympians in Yichang, Central China’s Hubei province, Sept 6, 2012. [Photo/CFP]

The bone of contention lies at the extent of Zhou's contribution for China sports. Instead of bagging a medal, what she accomplished was, to many, kind of humiliating.

According to an online survey by ifeng.com, 39.83% respondents agreed with the authorities' nice gesture, 22.35% said they were confused by the groundless award, while 34.23% thought the criteria was unclear.

Zhou said the award is a big comfort for her, and will push her to work harder in future.

"It is a great comfort for me to receive the honor from the government. This means they acknowledge my efforts during training…I wasn't in good shape at the Olympics. All I can do now is train harder and hope to make the Olympics in four years," she said.