Competition can bring out the best and the worst in people, especially when national pride is on the line, and the first week of the Olympics has adequately confirmed this. Within twenty-four hours of the opening ceremony (featuring those lovely bicycle ladies), gold medals and controversy graced the playing field. From drama in the pool with Sun Yang and Mack Horton to Team USA’s stunning first place finish in gymnastics (shout out to Simone, my queen), the past few days have been an up and down ride between greatness and animosity. I’d say it’s been a pretty standard Olympics from the get go.
However, one athlete seems to stand apart from all the rest.
Meet Fu Yuanhui, the 20 year-old Chinese bronze medalist of the 100m Backstroke. Hailing from Hangzhou, she was virtually unknown outside the swimming circle pre-Olympics. However, after her heartwarmingly expressive interview following semifinals, China made her an overnight star.
“I swam a 58.95?!!” Fu gasps after the reporter tells her the result (which she hadn’t thought to check immediately after the race), “I thought I swam 59 seconds! I was that fast?!”
Her most iconic lines came towards the end of the interview.
“Did you save any energy for finals tomorrow?” asks the reporter.
“Nope!” she replies, gleeful as ever, “I’ve already used up all of my mystical powers!”
Note: the term “mystical powers” (hong huang zhi li) is not a commonly used term in Chinese, but it refers to a kind of legendary energy that can basically blow things up.
Mystical powers or not, Fu made herself an instant favorite with all who watched the CCTV interview. She seemed such a refreshing character at a stage where people constantly surprise us with their brilliant performances. Instead of being the best athlete, she had the best attitude, and made China proud even before competing in finals.
Perhaps they thought this would be as far as Fu would go, but she came back the next day to score a tied third-place finish with Kylie Masse of Canada, behind Hungarian Katinka Hosszu and American Kathleen Baker. She saved herself from being forgotten, probably even exceeding Hosszu’s popularity, when she revealed in the subsequent interview (charming as ever) that she didn’t even know she’d scored bronze.
Only Fu.
“You were only .01 seconds away from second place, did you know you could’ve won silver today?” the reporter begins.
Queue Fu: “Then I guess it’s because my arms were too short!”
Easily setting aside any disappointment, her upbeat attitude towards competition won her millions of fans – 4 million to be exact. She even gained fame outside of China, where many crowned her as the queen of good sportsmanship and a great model for athletes everywhere.
Anyone who makes outfacing fellow medalists a hobby deserves a gold star.
So, for all of you sitting at home this summer, I hope you can learn a lesson from “that one friend” Fu Yuanhui. Go get ‘em with those mystical powers.
