China, China – American tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologised “from my heart” for making light-paper comments about Chinese food.
Her first comments on social media – following her apology, came before the US played Kazakhstan in the Billy Junking Cup final held at China’s Shin Shenzhen.
Ranked number one in doubles, Townsend, 29, needs to post videos of local cuisine such as Bruflog and Turtle, joke around and “talking to HR” about the quality of the food.
She took her to Instagram again on Wednesday to apologise after facing backlash online.
“I just wanted to come here and give a heartfelt apologies,” Townsend said. He said she realized how privileged she is as a professional athlete who can travel around the world and experience cultural differences.
“(That’s one of the things I really like about what I do and it’s only the most amazing experience here and in the tournament,” Townsend said. “Everyone was so kind and elegant. And what I said didn’t represent that at all. And I just really wanted to apologize. There are no excuses. There are no words. And for me, I’ll be even better.”
The US is scheduled to play Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals on Thursday.