Media Makes Fun Of Gold Medalist Joseph Schooling For Putting On Weight At SEA Games

It’s almost 2020 ladies and gentlemen. It’s time to stop with the body-shaming already… right?

Unfortunately, nope we ain’t done yet because apparently even our national pride, Joseph Schooling aka the guy that appears on all my milo packets was made fun of for his chonky size.

Perhaps the reason why he has been subjected to such scrutiny is that he’s a national athlete. That said, I still believe that body-shaming is not okay, period.

Media Makes Fun Of Gold Medalist Joseph School For Putting On Weight At SEA Games

Many comments were made with regards to Joseph Schooling’s body during the 2019 SEA games in the Philippines.

And no, it wasn’t that he had ripped abs or a tight body like SpongeBob.

In fact, it was kinda the opposite.

This is a photo of him at the SEA Games.

And this was him in the past.

According to Mothership, various media such as CNA and The Straits Times quoted the national training centre head coach Gary Tan in response to a reporter asking about Schooling’s chonky body.

In response, Tan replied with an acknowledgement that Schooling had indeed put on the pounds, “Kudos to him, even at this size, he did a great job.”

This was after he had won the men’s 100m butterfly on Friday, 6 December.

Tan also added that, “There is some recognition of things that he needs to change in the lifestyle part of it, especially getting a bit more trim and getting him to work towards getting fitter as well.”

More simply said, he needs to lose weight. End of story.

“We are seven months out of the Olympics, we’ve got time to get him trim and fit and I know he’s ready to make those big changes.”

So yeah, perhaps Schooling is waiting for the 2020 Olympics which is seven months away to show off a fit bod. Who knows?

But if anything’s for sure, it’s Schooling’s place in the Olympics.

Schooling secured himself a place at the 2020 Tokyo Games on Friday after clocking 51.84sec to win his fourth consecutive 100m fly title.

Personally, I believe that as long as he is fit and healthy (and able to perform well), there’s no reason to poke fun at an athlete’s physique. If anything it might put unnecessary and additional stress on him/her.