On November 10, the Hungarian National Skating Association said they had approved Shaolin Sándor Liu and Shaoang Liu’s request to renounce their Hungarian nationalities.
The approval is contingent on the duo repaying Hungary for three years of training costs, which amount to between 250,000 and 380,000 USD each.
The Liu brothers are short-track speed skaters who medaled at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
Though they did not initially specify which country they were heading to, their mother confirmed that they would apply for Chinese citizenship. Their father is ethnically Chinese, and they spent much of their childhood training in North China’s Jilin province.
The Lius are reportedly following their longtime coach, Zhang Jing, who has been the head coach of the Hungarian men’s short-track speed skating team since 2012. This summer, she left to become the head coach for China’s national team.
Chinese netizens, though, are not happy. Some call the Liu brothers’ decision ‘two-faced,’ and others are angry over a ‘dirty move’ by Shaoang that resulted in the injury of a Chinese speed skater at the 2018 Speed Skating Worlds.
The ‘dirty move’ in question, where Shaoang is seen pushing Chinese skater Han Tianyu.