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China's Happiest Swimmer Becomes an Online Sensation

2016-08-13 ThatsBJ城市漫步



By Diana Park


Sometimes, we see Olympians who win anything but the gold medal weep out of frustration. Some athletes apologize to their countries for not coming in first.

And then there is Fu Yuanhui, a swimmer for Team China.

On August 7, she competed in the 100m backstroke semi-finals at the Rio Olympics, and came in third, clocking in at 58.95 seconds.

Only she didin't know that. She thought she was over 59 seconds, and found out the exact record only after a Chinese reporter approached her for an interview. When the reporter informed her that she swam under 59 seconds, she was shocked. "I was SO FAST!" she proclaimed in the video since seen 'round the world.


The rest of her interview is just as adorable. When asked how she felt about the results, she immediately answered that she was satisfied. When the interviewer then asked if she was "holding back" for the finals, Fu answered, with a violent headshake, "I was NOT holding back! I have used ALL of my 'mystical powers' (洪荒之力; literally, a force strong enough to reshape the universe)."

The Hangzhou-born swimmer competed in the final two days later. She went on to win the bronze medal, tying with Canadian swimmer Kylie Masse at 58.76 seconds. Here she is, absolutely elated with her medal:


https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=u0319sn6mtb&width=500&height=375&auto=0

After her interview was aired, she instantly became an online sensation both within and outside of China, with the Huffington Post even declaring it "Fu Yuanhui's Olympics." Having nicknamed Fu "the comedian in the swimming profession," Chinese netizens have shared the video of her interview thousands of times within 24 hours, and some even created cartoon charaters, emoticons, and memes based on Fu.



Fu now has more than 4.9 million followers on Weibo, where people have been sharing videos of themselves imitating Fu's iconic facial expression filled with utter excitement.

You do you, Fu!


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