After being told to go back to China or receiving racist messages online, Asian American athletes excelled in the international Winter Olympics Games. Americans celebrated two highly talented Olympians who brought home gold medals after the Olympics ended Feb. 20 in Beijing, China. Korean American snowboarder Chloe Kim and Chinese American figure skater Nathan Chen brought home gold medals after representing the United States (U.S.) in their respective events. Many students spoke on how influential watching Asian American Olympians thrive during the Games was.

Chen and other Asian athletes have talked about the importance of Asian portrayal and representation in sports. In addition, their outreach towards the Asian American community has influenced young Asian Americans, such as sophomore Lia Emry who was adopted at a young age from China.

“Growing up, I got a lot of Asian hate. My eyes are a big target since they are hooded, and they don’t look like everybody else’s. [So] to see people who look like me represented on TV and within sports [felt] good,” Emry said. “Chloe Kim is a really good snowboarder, and I’m inspired to someday learn how to snowboard like her. These people who worked so hard their whole lives and put everything into this sport finally get to [show] it off at the Olympics.”

Around 50 different Asian ethnicities speak over 100 different languages within Asia, yet in the past, ethnic diversity was rarely showcased in the Olympics. Sophomore Kayden Senseney celebrated his Japanese heritage by cheering on Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano, who won gold in the men’s snowboard halfpipe representing Japan.  

“As an Asian American, representation is important to me because it helps me relate to certain topics [and] feel welcomed in [different] settings. The Olympics [showed] a diverse group of people coming together to compete against each other in various ways,” Senseney said. “Even if they play the same sport, their strategies and skills can be completely different. [For example], I enjoyed watching Ayumu Hirano win gold on the men’s halfpipe.” 

With the increase in Asian athletes within the U.S. Olympic teams, there have been accusations conveying that Asian American ice skaters are not deserving of their spot on the U.S. team solely because of their ethnicity. This offended sophomore Serena Liu, especially after watching Chen win gold in figure skating during the men’s singles event, Feb. 10.

“I don’t think Asians are overrepresented in sports. The best American athletes in a specific sport should represent America, [and] their [ethnic] background shouldn’t matter. [For example], everyone on the [U.S.] figure skating team was American, representing America,” Liu said. “My favorite competitor on the U.S. team was Nathen Chen because his performance was so graceful and impressive.”

Through posts on Instagram, Kim raised awareness on how hurtful receiving anti-Asian comments felt by opening up about hate she has received after becoming a dominant Asian woman in sports.  Sophomore Angie Ren is inspired by Kim and strongly supports ending Asian American hate within our community and on social media. The Stop Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate movement has brought together the Asian community during the pandemic to combat racism against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. 

“I’ve been called racial slurs, and people have been normalizing it as a joke. I’ll be talking with friends, and they will call me racial slurs, and I don’t think that is okay at all. I’ve gotten so used to it that it doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s very wrong for me not to feel disturbed by it because it shows how normalized it has become,” Ren said. “More representation [in sports] would show how beautiful Asia’s culture is and would help [get rid] of negative stereotypes about Asians.”

The Asian Based Celebration (ABC) Club, co-founded by Liu, plans to eliminate harmful racial stereotypes by representing the Asian community. Through presentations, group discussions and celebrations of famous Asian icons like Kim and Chen, the ABC Club hopes to make Asian students feel welcomed into all school sports and clubs.

“[I started the ABC Club] because I thought we needed a space to celebrate Asian culture, especially after the pandemic and rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. Asian representation is important for students because as a minority, standing in solidarity with each other can help people feel more comfortable and involved in sports,” Liu said. “It’s important that teens see people like them reflected in important venues [like the Olympics] because representation inspires teens to pursue careers or passions.”

The U.S. won eight gold medals during the Games, two of which were won by Asian Americans.

“[Asian representation] is important to me because seeing people who look like me or have a similar background inspires me. Growing up on Disney Channel, I didn’t see a lot of Asians besides the nerdy stereotype. [So] it’s nice to see the media showing that Asians [are] not a single stereotype,” Liu said. “It’s inspiring for my little sister to see Asian athletes compete at the Olympics because it makes us feel proud. It lets her know that she can accomplish so much more beyond the stereotypical.”