A Multimodal Construction of China’s National Sports Image by China Daily in the Away-Game Context

Abstract

This study takes the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as a case study to explore how Chinese media construct the national sports image through multimodal discourse in an away-game context. Addressing the gap in existing literature, which predominantly focuses on home-game events, this paper analyzes 30 multimodal news reports from China Daily. It adopts the framework of multimodal discourse analysis (MDA), integrating transitivity analysis, Visual Grammar, and Intersemiotic Complementarity theory to examine the synergistic construction mechanisms of verbal and visual modalities. The findings reveal that China Daily presents a credible image through material processes and objective data; shapes a lovable image via emotional expressions and an equal perspective; and portrays a respectable image using cultural symbols and willpower. Consequently, it accomplishes the multidimensional construction of a “credible, lovable, and respectable” image in an away-game context. This paper broadens the away-game dimension in national sports image research and provides references for the multimodal communication strategies of Chinese media in international sporting event coverage.