I really do not mean for this to be offensive or disrespectful in any way, it is just something I noticed; but of course I could be mistaken. I noticed that in a few of the events, such as diving and gymnastics (i.e. sports where it is typical to congregate and congratulate the athlete that just competed) the athletes from other countries would ignore or just kind of brush off those from NK, and not really congratulate them or would even skip over them when interacting with other athletes.
I can’t remember who the gymnast was, but after she had finished her routine and was going back to sit down, she hugged and shook hands with some of the other girls, and completely ignored the North Korean athlete that was waving and smiling at her, and continued on talking to the others. It was really awkward tbh. This was the first instance that I noticed this but it became more and more obvious to me the more I watched that it seemed like they were doing this on purpose.
Once again I apologize profusely if this seems disrespectful, that’s just what I gathered from watching. Did anyone else catch this or wonder the same?
I mean what do you expect? The language barrier is severe, they have basically nothing in common, and the NK athletes are strictly disciplined to not get close to the others, the NK government doesn’t want them “influenced” or to become a defection risk.