Female Olympian’s Gold Medal Replaced After Mayoral Chomp

Groans were heard world 'round when the mayor of Nagoya took a bite out of an Olympian's hard-earned gold, but that wasn't his only foul.

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Surprising absolutely no one who’s been keeping tabs on the sexism and lack of respect for women during the Tokyo Olympics, yet another egregious display of disrespect has grabbed headlines and sparked criticism. The culprit this time is the mayor of Nagoya City, Kawamura Takashi. One of two ringleaders in a failed right-wing recall campaign, Kawamura also attempted to have a statue representing women forced into sex slavery in WWII removed.

This time, he basically did what every kindergartner learns not to do: put things in your mouth that don’t belong there. During a courtesy visit to the city following her team’s Olympic victory, softball player Goto Miu had to watch Kawamura lower his mask into chin diaper mode and chomp on her hard-earned gold medal without her permission. Note that the backdrop in the video below is covered in infection measure control notices.

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The video in this NHK tweet has racked over 4.5 million views as of this writing.

The Bite Heard ‘Round the World

By August 6th, more than 5,000 emails and phone calls complaining about Kawamura had flooded Nagoya City Hall. Top athletes expressed their anger and voiced praise for how Goto handled the situation. Many people called for organizing committees to give Goto a new germ-free gold medal. Kawamura claimed he “acted on impulse” and bit the medal as an “utmost expression of affection” but his poor apology failed to appease the masses. Toyota, which owns Goto’s team the Red Terriers, immediately released a statement expressing its disappointment in Kawamura’s actions.

Kawamura seems to have a habit of biting into gold objects and ignoring sanitary protocols. In April, Kawamura attended the opening ceremony of an exhibition where visitors were permitted to get up close and personal with a golden shachihoko (mythical animal with a lion’s head and carp’s body). Kawamura lowered his mask and pretended to bite the statue’s nose.

https://www.sankei.com/article/20210807-7AU3TGXPFZLTHG5QXN5QSM6Q2I/
(JP) Link: Nagoya Mayor Bites Golden Orca During April Special Exhibition

“This is Sexual, Power, and Moral Harassment”

If the footage of Kawamura biting Goto’s medal wasn’t bad enough, the full transcript and video of Kawamura’s interaction with Goto is even worse. He failed to use honorifics to address Goto and even asked if she’s prohibited from being involved in romantic relationships. Inevitably, many questioned if Kawamura would have treated a male Olympian’s medal with the same disrespect, with the consensus being no.

What Goto went through is without doubt harassment. One Twitter user went so far as to call Kawamura’s actions a “triple combo” of sexual, power, and moral harassment. “Moreover, his comment in response to the criticism was, ‘I apologize if I’ve caused you distress.’ It’s really serious when problematic behavior isn’t recognized as such.”

Goto has been praised for her mature handling of the situation, but others point out that this shouldn’t be the case. Twitter user @chilime said, “Praising the victim’s mature response to the situation is no different than letting the wrong-doer look the other way and miss an opportunity to reflect on his actions….”

ちらいむ on X (formerly Twitter): “名古屋の河村市長…金メダルかじり以外も酷過ぎて…なんかもう言葉が出ない。後藤選手の大人の対応を讃えるのではなく、周りの大人が名古屋市長を止めて欲しい。被害者の大人の対応を称賛する、或いはそうしたスルーを求めることは加害者に反省の機会を失わせ、野放しにすることと変わりないので…。 https://t.co/m3jjkxw5UH / X”

名古屋の河村市長…金メダルかじり以外も酷過ぎて…なんかもう言葉が出ない。後藤選手の大人の対応を讃えるのではなく、周りの大人が名古屋市長を止めて欲しい。被害者の大人の対応を称賛する、或いはそうしたスルーを求めることは加害者に反省の機会を失わせ、野放しにすることと変わりないので…。 https://t.co/m3jjkxw5UH

Gold for Gold

It’s unclear if Kawamura will bow to public opinion and resign, or if Goto did indeed express any desire for a new medal not covered in old man slobber. Whatever the case, she will in fact be receiving a pristine new medal — the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Japanese Olympic Committee, and Tokyo Olympic organizers have all worked together to ensure Goto will be able to turn in the chomped medallion. Kyodo News reports that Goto has assented to the exchange.

On the mayoral front, even if Kawamura does resign, it’s not a sign that he’s actually remorseful. Perhaps, as one Twitter user suggested, Kawamura should take a course on sexual harassment. It’s clear he, and many other men involved with the Olympics, need to learn a thing or two about respecting women.

Update: On August 16th, Kawamura announced that he would forfeit three months’ pay in recompense for his actions. He also attended a sexual harassment seminar which lasted some few hours.

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