Dan Lin of China competes against Viktor Axelson of Denmark during the Men's Singles Badminton Bronze Medal match on Day 15 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Riocentro - Pavilion 4 on August 20, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Photo : Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey)
Chinese badminton superstar Lin Dan found himself caught up in a cheating scandal after footage of the married athlete being intimate with another woman surfaced online. The footage sent social media into meltdown as Dan welcomed a child with his wife not too long ago.
The Internet frenzy started after a popular Weibo user shared a series of paparazzi-captured photos and videos of the badminton player with a "mystery woman." The post came less than two weeks after Dan and his wife, Xie Xingfang, welcomed a baby boy on Nov. 5.
The footage was leaked by "Detective Zhao," a social media user famous for gossiping about celebrities, and showed the two-time Olympic champion and the woman hugging and kissing each other in a hotel room in October. The gossipmonger also posted pictures of the pair in an intimate position in September, when Xingfang was pregnant with Dan's child, according to the Global Times.
The footage spread like wildfire and became a trending topic on Weibo with the hashtag "Lin Dan's affair". The post has already received more than a million page views and has been reposted more than 200,000 times with over 40,000 comments on the micro-blogging site.
Olympic badminton champion #LinDan accused of affair while wife pregnant.https://t.co/rToLXhnyrJ pic.twitter.com/CAPAOBi44P
— China.org.cn (@chinaorgcn) November 17, 2016
The woman was later identified as Zhao Yaqi, a model and actress who came in second place at the Miss Tourism of the Globe beauty pageant in 2009. Dan and Xingfang, also a badminton player, have been married for 12 years.
Shortly after the photos surfaced, Dan took to his Weibo account to apologize for his actions in Mandarin. "As a man, I do not make any excuses for myself," the Straits Times quoted the sportsman as saying. "But my actions have hurt my family and I hereby apologise."
There are reports that two major sponsors who were planning to enter into a contract with Dan have backed out after his extra-marital affair came to light. It is not yet clear whether his current sponsors, including Yonex, D&G and Montblanc will follow suit and cancel their sponsorship with the athlete.
Watch paparazzi footage of Dan and Yaqi in the video below:
