Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin, who won everyone's hearts with her adorable reaction upon receiving her Olympic silver medal, is garnering praise once again for helping out at her family restaurant. A video has been going viral in which the 18-year-old is seen running to and from the kitchen, dishes in hand, in her Olympic uniform. The humble restaurant is located in Hengyang City in central China's Hunan Province. After her debut at the grand sporting event, Yaqin reportedly went back home for a vacation and has been working for her parents while on break.
Zhou Yaqin's adorable reaction
Zhou Yaqin went viral after her innocent reaction at the Olympic podium. In her debut Olympics this year, she came in second in the women's gymnastics balance beam event, where Italy's Alice D'Amato took home gold and Manila Esposito won bronze.
The three medallists began posing on the podium, after which both D'Amato and Esposito exhibited the traditional 'medal bite'. Yaqin, unsure of what to do, looked over to the others with a ''Oh, I should also do this'' look on her face, and then proceeded to put the medal in her mouth without actually biting it.
Watch it here
The moment, which gave off major "golden retriever energy", has since gone viral on social media. This tradition of Olympians biting their medals is an age-old technique to test the authenticity of the gold and has now become an incredibly popular pose among medallists.
Yaqin, who was evidently unaware of this trend, has won hearts across the world with this show of genuineness.
An X user commented under a video of the moment, saying, ''She was like y'all chew on metal?''
Others commented on her sportsmanship and pure energy. ''She was also giving hugs to every competitor as they were completing their series, she's so cute.''
''When you are so focused in your craft that you have no idea on the trends,'' an X user said.
She is now garnering attention for helping her parents while on a break. Reacting to her viral video at the restaurant, an X user commented, "It's heartwarming to see Zhou Yaqin balancing her Olympic success with family responsibilities. So humble!" Another concurred, "Working hard and earning for the family is a noble job. She should be proud. Her medal moment is immortalized in the world of the Internet."
Who Is Zhou Yaqin?
The 18-year-old artistic gymnast, Zhou Yaqin was born in Hengyang, China. She represented the People's Republic of China at her debut Olympics at the Paris Games 2024. She participated in various events at these Olympics, such as women's vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise events, and bagged the silver in the balance beam event.
She has previously participated in several national Chinese championships and also represented her country at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. There, she won the silver medal in the balance beam event, behind Simone Biles' gold. The impressive fact was that our young gymnast was behind Biles by only 0.100, which is the closest anyone has got to beating her in a World Championship final since 2014.
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