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Chinese state media has come under fire for abruptly deleting photos of its athletes who finished 1-2 in the women's track and field final at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

According to CNN and other foreign media outlets on Friday, China's Lin Yuewei, who won the gold medal in the women's 100-meter hurdles final at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and Wu Yanni, who finished second, were seen crying and hugging on the track.

After the Chinese athletes finished 1-2, state media, including China's CCTV, covered the embrace extensively.

Within an hour, however, the photo had disappeared.

At the time, Lin Yuwei ran in lane 6 and wore the number "6" on her jersey, while Wu Yanni, who ran in lane 4, wore the number "4" on her jersey.

Coincidentally, the number 6-4 was created when the two players embraced.

The photo was apparently censored by Chinese authorities because it could be reminiscent of the June 4 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, CNN reported.

"6-4" refers to China's bloody suppression of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

The photo in question cannot be found on Baidu, China's popular search engine, as well as state media, while Xinhua said the photo remains, but the 6-4 number does not appear to be cropped, the outlet said.

Meanwhile, Wu Yanni, who came in second in the match, was later disqualified for a false start.