China's Ice Dancers Under Probe After Holding Prop Weapon during Competition
The International Skating Union are conducting a formal inquiry following two Chinese figure skaters appeared holding an object resembling a replica weapon during a grand prix figure skating event.
Television footage captured the skaters waiting with a sizable prop shaped like a missile labeled “DF-61” as they awaited the judges' results at the “kiss and cry” zone on Saturday.
This model is a recently introduced Chinese-made land-based long-range weapon capable of carrying nuclear weapons, that had been displayed at a military parade last month.
“The ISU have acknowledged of an unsuitable soft toy seems to have been among those thrown on to the rink by spectators after a performance at the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Cup of China event,” the organization commented via a release.
The item was subsequently held by the skaters after their performance. We apologizes for the incident and will investigate further.”
Ren and Xing placed eighth out of ten teams during the ice dancing competition, which was won by the American pair of the United States.
