China 'orders Finnish Olympic cross-country skier to delete images of flooding in athletes' village'
A Finnish Winter Olympics athlete was ordered by Chinese authorities to take down pictures of her hotel being flooded, it was claimed today.
Katri Lylynpera, 28, shared videos of the Finland team hotel in Beijing being flooded last Wednesday.
The footage shows entire corridors being drenched in water after pouring through the light fixtures in yet another embarrassing moment for the much-maligned event.
Separate footage shared by Ms Lylynpera showed floods coming out the front doors of her hotel, with desperate staff seen trying to dry the stairs outside with hand towels and salt.
But when the cross-country skier shared the videos of the flooding online, she was ordered to take them down at once, according to reports on social media.
It comes after China warned athletes at the games that they will be 'punished' if they stage any form of anti-Beijing protest.
The chilling warning shot was fired by Yang Shu, deputy director general of Beijing 2022's International Relations Department, who was asked to comment on concerns for competitors who speak out about rights issues.
In recent days, athletes have been left in tears after being forced to isolate in quarantine hotels, where the quality of food has left some losing weight and out of shape by the time they could compete.
In her first clip, Ms Lylynpera showed streaming water coming out the ceiling in the corridors of the hotel.
The streams of water covered the entire floor, even coming into her room as another person in the hotel ducks for cover in the background.
Captioning the video, she wrote the single word: 'Help!'
In a another clip showing the flood extending to outside the front of the hotel, it appears the front doors of the building have been bent outwards by the outpour.
She wrote: 'A nice waterfall reaches all the way out. Now the water is cut off and the flood is nearly finished.'
Leaked WhatsApp messages shared on Reddit appear to show Chinese authorities discussing silencing the Finnish Olympian after the flood.
One said: 'The China side asked them to remove the posts.'
The Finnish Olympic Committee has been approached for comment.
It comes after a litany of other issues at the Beijing Olympics, which has been marred by China's Zero Covid strategy, allegations the Communist regime is responsible for the genocide of the Uighur people and its venues in a region of China that has no snow.
Last week dozens of athletes thrown into virus isolation laid bare their misery - describing 'crying like crazy' after being hauled out of bed at 3am before being fed miserable food in rooms too small for exercise.
Beijing is attempting to hold a virus-free event in the midst of a pandemic, cutting off competitors and their teams in a bubble where tests must be taken every day, with anyone who tests positive dragged off to isolation.
Katri Lylynpera, 28, shared videos of the Finland team hotel in Beijing being flooded last Wednesday.
The footage shows entire corridors being drenched in water after pouring through the light fixtures in yet another embarrassing moment for the much-maligned event.
Separate footage shared by Ms Lylynpera showed floods coming out the front doors of her hotel, with desperate staff seen trying to dry the stairs outside with hand towels and salt.
But when the cross-country skier shared the videos of the flooding online, she was ordered to take them down at once, according to reports on social media.
It comes after China warned athletes at the games that they will be 'punished' if they stage any form of anti-Beijing protest.
The chilling warning shot was fired by Yang Shu, deputy director general of Beijing 2022's International Relations Department, who was asked to comment on concerns for competitors who speak out about rights issues.
In recent days, athletes have been left in tears after being forced to isolate in quarantine hotels, where the quality of food has left some losing weight and out of shape by the time they could compete.
In her first clip, Ms Lylynpera showed streaming water coming out the ceiling in the corridors of the hotel.
The streams of water covered the entire floor, even coming into her room as another person in the hotel ducks for cover in the background.
Captioning the video, she wrote the single word: 'Help!'
In a another clip showing the flood extending to outside the front of the hotel, it appears the front doors of the building have been bent outwards by the outpour.
She wrote: 'A nice waterfall reaches all the way out. Now the water is cut off and the flood is nearly finished.'
Leaked WhatsApp messages shared on Reddit appear to show Chinese authorities discussing silencing the Finnish Olympian after the flood.
One said: 'The China side asked them to remove the posts.'
The Finnish Olympic Committee has been approached for comment.
It comes after a litany of other issues at the Beijing Olympics, which has been marred by China's Zero Covid strategy, allegations the Communist regime is responsible for the genocide of the Uighur people and its venues in a region of China that has no snow.
Last week dozens of athletes thrown into virus isolation laid bare their misery - describing 'crying like crazy' after being hauled out of bed at 3am before being fed miserable food in rooms too small for exercise.
Beijing is attempting to hold a virus-free event in the midst of a pandemic, cutting off competitors and their teams in a bubble where tests must be taken every day, with anyone who tests positive dragged off to isolation.