Lin Dan returns a shot by South Korea's Lee Dongkeun (not pictured) during the men's singles badminton match in the Gyeyang Gymnasium at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, Sept 25, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan apologized on Thursday for cheating on his wife, hours after the affair was exposed online.

Photos featuring the two-time Olympic champion, who became a father two weeks ago, dating a woman during his wife Xie Xingfang’s pregnancy were posted by entertainment reporter Zhao Wu’er on micro blog service Sina Weibo on Thursday morning.

“As a man, I don’t defend what I have done. My behavior has hurt my family. Here, I apologize to my family. Sorry,” Lin wrote on his Sina Weibo account in the early afternoon.

Lin’s post received more than 100,000 comments within 20 minutes of being published, some saying “I’m really so disappointed that my idol did such shameful thing” while some said “it doesn’t change all the glories he won for the country”.

One of the country’s most high-profile couples, Lin and Xie, who is also a badminton world champion, started dating in 2004 and got married six years later. Their son was born on Nov 4.

Dubbed “Super Dan” in China, Lin is the only man to have retained the Olympic singles title — in 2008 and 2012 — and the most successful singles player in the World Championships, winning five times between 2006 and 2013.

Xie, also a former world No 1, has two World Championship titles and won the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.