Hong Kong’s Cheung Ka long, centre, winner of the gold medal in the boys’s individual Foil competition, celebrates on the rostrum with silver medal winner Italy’s Filippo Macchi, left, and bronze medal winner United State’s Nick Itkin in the course of the Paris Olympics 2024 on July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
HONG KONG — Hong Kong fencer Cheung Ka-long’s victory over Italy’s Filippo Macchi on the Paris Olympics has sparked an exchange of insults on social media, with Cheung’s supporters celebrating his win with posts about pineapple pizzas—widely considered a culinary blunder in Italian cooking.
Cheung made Hong Kong history on Tuesday by beating Macchi 15-14 in the boys’s foil. That triumph made Cheung, who had won within the Tokyo Games in 2021, the primary Hong Konger to bag two gold medals.
The bout required three stoppages for video reviews to find out the deciding point because the fencing machine registered scores from each fencers at in regards to the same time. The ultimate point was eventually awarded to Cheung, sparking protests from the Italian side.
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The Italian Fencing Federation said in an announcement that it could file a grievance to the International Olympic Committee and the International Fencing Federation about what it called “unacceptable” refereeing.
“Never seen anything like this. Filippo Macchi is the actual winner and he was denied a gold he deserved,” Italian Fencing Federation President Paolo Azzi said.
Italy’s Olympic Committee President Giovanni Malagò suggested the choice of referees was problematic, saying “the 2 judges were from Taipei and Korea in a final between Italy and Hong Kong.”
Macchi’s supporters also left comments on Cheung’s Instagram account to precise their grievances. One comment alleged that Cheung’s championship was “robbed” and Macchi needs to be the ultimate winner.
In a mockery response, Hong Kongers replied with comments on Instagram about their love for pineapple pizza to defend Cheung and said they’d have a whole lot of pineapple pizzas to have a good time the win.
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Pizza Hut in Hong Kong and neighboring gambling city Macao also offered free pineapple toppings on any pizzas when dining at its branches on Tuesday and Wednesday to have a good time the victory.
But Macchi eventually earned respect from some Hong Kongers after he posted on his Instagram to say that he knows each referees and he didn’t need to point a finger at them for his loss. He added their decisions should be respected.
Cheung’s win also marked the primary time Hong Kong has secured two gold medals in the identical Olympics. Vivian Kong Man Wai last weekend won the person epee for the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
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