Swimmer Fu Yuanhui Becomes Latest Internet Sensation

2016/08/09

Han Jing

Program Code: 0909346160809008 Source: Miaopai

Swimmer Fu Yuanhui surged to Chinese social-media stardom thanks to her expressive appearance on CCTV following her third-place finish in the women’s 100m backstroke semifinals at the Rio Olympics on Monday.

Fu ultimately clinched a bronze medal, and a new personal-best time of 58.76 seconds, in the finals on Tuesday. Gold medalist Sun Yang, who won the men's 200m freestyle on the same day, came to hug and congratulate her.

Fu didn’t know she had tied for third until a CCTV reporter told her in an interview on Tuesday after the final. When she learned her time, she said with a huge smile, “It was too fast!”

The reporter told her she was only one-hundredth of a second behind the silver medalist. She responded that maybe she had shorter arms.

In the video that’s raged online since the semifinal, Fu, whose jaw dropped and eyes bulged in excitement and shock, said she couldn’t even believe she swam so fast.

She exclaimed: “Only ghosts knows what I have endured in the past three months. Sometimes I thought I was going to die. The training sessions for the Olympics are a fate worse than death.” When the reporter asked whether she was hopeful in the final, she said, "Not at all! I am already very satisfied!"

When asked by the reporter whether she had used all of her strength in the semifinal, she said, "I wasn't holding back, I was using prehistoric powers.”

The phrase “prehistoric powers” — which entered popular parlance last year after it was used in a drama series, and is roughly analogous to “the Force” mentioned in the “Star Wars” films — soon became a rallying cry for Fu’s supporters.

Fu’s bright and positive personality has captivated local Internet users. Web users posted pictures of her appearing energetic and vivacious after past competitions and used them to create a series of cartoon images based on her quotations.

Web users have called her a living “emoticon” and said they are looking forward to more post-game interviews from her in the future.

By 5pm on Tueday, Fu’s Weibo account has attracted 3 million followers.

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Swimmer Fu Yuanhui Becomes Latest Internet Sensation

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