The Best Thing to Have Come out of China

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While the Rio Games have so far been mired with Olympic level blunders, including unfinished athlete dormitories, dodgy flags, and a wave of Chinese hatred directed at Australia, one swimmer from Hangzhou magically seems to have taken all the negative press and spun it on its head.

Fu Yuanhui, 20, now known by many across the world as ‘that Chinese swimmer’, shot to fame over the past few days after a video of her reacting to the news that she’d won a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke went viral online. 

In the video (below) Fu can be viewed reacting with a stunned expression as a CCTV reporter informs her that she didn’t come 4th, as she believed, she actually came 3rd and therefore won the bronze. Netizens, both Chinese and foreign, have all marveled at the delight expressed by Fu after she received the news.

Where many swimmers have made headlines over the past week for accusing their competitors of being drug cheats, or for acting unsportsmanlike during training sessions, Fu has come as a breath of fresh air, reminding the world of the sense of unity and happiness that the Olympic Games are meant to embody.

Fu went on to spur more international laughter after she later realized that she was only 0.1 seconds away from tying for second place. Instead of beating herself up over it, or crying as you'd expect many Olympic athletes to do, she simply joked that she must've lost the race because her arms were “too short.”

While some have gone on to criticize Fu, claiming that it was all just an act (perhaps inspired by the recent Eddie the Eagle movie) Fu has claimed that what you see on camera is what she's really like. In an interview following the now infamous video Fu stated: “I honestly never thought I’d become an internet celebrity! I feel like there’s a load of pressure on me now. I always thought that I wasn't exactly to everyone's liking.” 

Of course, we wouldn’t claim that it’s only this one act that makes Fu the best thing to ever have come out of China. After the entire Shanghai Expat team seemingly fell in love with her, we went back through Fu’s athletic career and checked out some of her equally fantastic on-camera moments.

From celebrating a medal win in style,

to wearing a tiger hat at the National Intercity Games,

we’re big fans of Fu Yuanhui and are fairly certain she’ll stand out as the most memorable Chinese athlete from the 2016 Games.

Watch our compilation of her cutest moments:

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=m03204awt8d&width=500&height=375&auto=0

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