Pan Zhanle celebrates after winning the men's 100-meter freestyle final at the Paris Olympics on July 31, 2024. Photo: IC

Chinese star swimmer Pan Zhanle disbanded his only official fan group on China's X-like platform Sina Weibo on Monday, after the toxic "fan culture" targeting certain Chinese Olympic athletes sparked controversy online.  Pan's action quickly won applause from net users, with many saying that he demonstrated the "clear-headed" attitude that athletes should have.

Hashtag "Pan Zhanle disbanded his fan group" had attracted 210 million reads on Sina Weibo as of press time. 

Twenty-year old Pan gained his fame during the Paris Olympics, after he broke his own world record on the way to winning the men's 100-meter freestyle, finishing in 46.40 seconds for China's swimming gold medal of the Paris Olympics.

The young athlete also won many hearts with his sharp and out of usual comments during interviews. "I hope to be more low-key and peaceful. I would rather not have such outstanding results this time, so that I can continue to focus on training peacefully," Pan said during an interview about his sudden rise to fame. 

Pan's disbanding of fan group is applauded by majority of net users. Many praised Pan as decisive and clear-minded.  A Sina Weibo user under the name Zhou Kaidao stated that the spirit of sports lies in fair competition, and the intrusion of distorted "fan culture" is a desecration of this spirit and must be resolutely resisted.

Pan's action have been seen as a strong response to some negative fan culture phenomena on social media. In some cases, fan groups can become breeding grounds for excessive idol worship, irrational support, and even online violence. By disbanding the fan group, Pan Zhanle has sent a positive signal that athletes should earn respect through their hard work and professional spirit, rather than relying on blind adulation from fans.

Discussion about "fan culture" began to simmer on Chinese social media during the course of the Olympics. 

On August 4, several Chinese social media platforms, including Sina Weibo and Douyin announced that they were cracking down on over 800 accounts that had been fomenting conflict during the table tennis events at the Olympics, removing more than 50,000 inappropriate fan posts. 

A commentary article published by the People's Daily on August 8 pointed out that the distorted "fan culture" has been eroding sports for some time, and the distorted "fan culture" behavior has become a public "hazard." The commentary pointed out that some fans have lost their sense of rationality, indulging in the "sweet illusion" created by the "fan culture," lacking boundaries, sending private messages to harass and even illegally obtain the privacy of "idols".

On Tuesday, Guangzhou police revealed that a woman surnamed Wang was detained after repeatedly making insulting and defamatory remarks about Chinese national team athletes and coaches, causing a negative social impact. 

Global Times