Beijing 2022: ‘unbearably ugly’ Chinese uniforms go viral as social media users mock victory ceremony designs

The official designs for the Beijing Olympics’ medal ceremonies have been unveiled by organisers, prompting widespread criticism among Chinese online users who described the costumes to be worn by staff as “unbearably ugly”.

The costumes debuted in a post on the organising committee’s Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like online networking tool, gaining more than 366,000 likes and 17,000 comments.

As athletes receive their medals, supporting staff will be wearing one of these three different designs that incorporate “traditional Tang dynasty fabrics and other traditional Chinese cultural elements,” the organisers wrote.

Yet comments flooded under the post as netizens expressed their distaste for the design of the costumes.

One netizen commented: “I haven’t seen such old-school designs on garments for years, even my mother wouldn’t dress like this.” The comment received 24,000 likes from other users.

“I really don’t understand! Why are this year’s designs so inadequate? The athlete uniforms and competition uniforms also leave me speechless,” another netizen noted. This comment received more than 7,000 likes.

The three designs, titled “Lucky Snow and Cloud”, “Great Landscape” and “Flying Snow in Tang dynasty”, feature variations on the main colours of bright red and blue, with details in traditional style “cross collars” and prints of snow and mountain motifs.