World Champion Fencer Under Fire For Racist Slant-Eye Gesture While In Japan

Not. This. Again.

Emanuele Lambertini, a paralympic wheelchair fencer for Italy, shared a picture on Instagram Friday of himself making the slant-eye gesture often used to mock Asians.

The picture, taken while in Japan for a competition, is accompanied by a caption which translates to “That’s how I feel after having eaten 🍣🍚🍜 for a week ... but at least it was worth it!” It has since been removed from Lambertini’s Instagram.

Those of Asian descent were quick to call out the racism behind the post, flooding Lambertini’s account with criticisms. Jimmy O. Yang of “Silicon Valley” even posted about the photo on his own Instagram, urging people to “take a stance against this.”

“This type of overt ignorance is absolutely unacceptable,” Yang said.

Criticisms of Lambertini spilled over to other social media platforms as well, with Twitter users also pointing out the athlete’s offensive post.

Lambertini, who took home a silver medal at the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in Kyoto, has yet to respond to the backlash. HuffPost has reached out to the International Paralympic Committee for comment.