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Tokyo Olympics: Adopted from China, Canada’s Maggie MacNeil wins gold and Chinese social media laments its one-child policy
- The 21-year-old’s victory in the 100m butterfly forces introspection given she was abandoned by her biological parents as a baby
- Netizens lament the circumstances that forced the swimming star out of her birth nation, but are full of praise for those who raised and trained her
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An adopted Chinese girl captured Canada’s first gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and it sparked outcry in China’s domestic media over its now-scrapped one-child policy.
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On Monday, Canada’s Maggie MacNeil – who was born in China – garnered worldwide fame as she was crowned Olympic champion ahead of China’s Zhang Yufei, the top-ranked swimmer in the women’s 100m butterfly.
Zhang had to settle for the silver medal in a time of 55.64 seconds, while MacNeil was 0.05 seconds ahead.
MacNeil, as mainland media reported, was abandoned by her biological parents after being born in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province in February, 2000. One year later, she was adopted as a toddler along with her younger sister from a local orphanage by Susan McNair and Edward MacNeil, of London, Ontario, Canada, and they brought both children back to their hometown.
MacNeil began swimming in 2008 and became a rising star at the University of Michigan, where she was teammates with Hong Kong’s own Siobhan Haughey.
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