Something that was worried happened. Fan Zhendong, who was raped by the Internet, exposed the evils of a circle.

After winning the Paris Olympics, Fan Zhendong should have enjoyed the glory and affirmation of being an Olympic champion, but he was deeply trapped in the whirlpool of public opinion. He was criticized for "picking up bargains" if he won, and was called "embarrassing" if he lost, and even quitting the WTT event was accused of "irresponsible". Unbearable, he chose to join the German Salbrücken Club and went to Germany to try to find a peaceful world of playing, but unfortunately, he still failed to get rid of the shadow of cyber violence.

A photo of Fan Zhendong eating alone in a German restaurant is circulating on the Internet. In the photo, he is wearing casual clothes, with a glass of beer in front of him, and is playing with his mobile phone with his head down and focused on his phone. His whole body exudes a long-lost feeling of relaxation. However, such an ordinary life photo once again pushed him to the forefront of public opinion. Some netizens maliciously attacked him without any basis, and even questioned him in an exaggerated manner whether he was "traitorous" and linked his normal personal choices to extreme national sentiment. This absurd accusation is astonishing.

Fan Zhendong's experience is not an isolated case, but a microcosm of the flood of fan culture in the domestic sports circle. Under the influence of fan circle culture, athletes are regarded as "idols" by some fans, and fans have an extreme possessive desire for them. Once the athletes' behavior deviates from their expectations, they launch an attack. This deformed fan culture not only affects the normal life and training of athletes, but also causes serious damage to the entire sports ecological environment.

What is even more worrying is that this fan culture is also connected with narrow national sentiment, forming a very destructive public opinion atmosphere. Some netizens mistakenly interpreted Fan Zhendong's normal career choice to join the German club as "traitor", which not only reflects their misunderstanding of sports spirit, but also exposes the national narrowness deep in his heart. In their eyes, the value of athletes seems to be only linked to winning glory for the country, and ignores the free choice rights that athletes have as individuals.

Zheng Qinwen once said that when facing external doubts and criticisms, athletes should "not listen, not watch, and not reflect" and follow their own pace and steps to improve. However, for Fan Zhendong, it is not easy to do this. As China's national football, table tennis has always carried extremely high national expectations, which has made the every move of table tennis players attract much attention. In such an environment, Fan Zhendong was disturbed by public opinion for a long time, his mentality gradually became unbalanced, and even withdrew from the world rankings and bid farewell to world-class competitions.

The incident of Fan Zhendong being raped in Germany sounded the alarm for us. It allows us to see how deeply the fan circle culture erodes the sports circle, and the dangers of this culture being combined with narrow national sentiment. We can no longer let athletes become victims of cyber violence, and we cannot let them win glory for the country, but also bear groundless accusations and attacks from our compatriots.

To change this situation, we need to start from multiple aspects. First of all, relevant departments and media should strengthen guidance and supervision of fan circle culture, advocate a rational view of sports and fan culture, and let sports return to its essence, that is, respect for sports spirit and athletes' fighting spirit. Secondly, the public should also improve their literacy and realize that athletes are first and foremost people, and they have the right to choose their own lifestyle and career paths, and cannot simply regard them as tools of national honor or their own private idols. Finally, athletes themselves also need to enhance their psychological resilience, and when facing external pressure, they can maintain their inner firmness and concentration and not be disturbed by external noise.

Fan Zhendong's trip to Germany was originally an upgrade of technical and tactical skills and life experience, but it was full of ups and downs due to the violence of the Internet. We hope that he can find a breakthrough in this dilemma, return to the arena, and continue to contribute to the table tennis career. At the same time, we hope that the entire sports circle can get rid of the constraints of fan circle culture and create a healthy, positive and individually respectful sports environment, so that athletes can pursue their dreams without worries and bring more exciting competitions to the country and the world.