Zhou Yaqin earned herself a legion of new fans in a compelling women’s balance beam final at the Paris Olympics – and the Chinese gymnast melted hearts with her antics on the podium after collecting her medal.
The 18-year-old, competing at her first Olympic Games, claimed silver with a near-flawless performance on the beam, scoring 14.100.
Loud gasps echoed around the Bercy Arena after an out-of-sorts Simone Biles fell off the beam during an ambitious routine, denying the legendary American an eighth gold medal.
Alice D’Amato capitalised to become Italy’s first ever Olympic champion in women’s gymnastics with a score of 14.366 and her compatriot, Manila Esposito, finished third on the leaderboard to get her hands on bronze.
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Shortly after the absorbing spectacle, D’Amato, Esposito and Yaqin joined on the podium to pick up their medals and pose for photographs in front of a packed-out crowd.
As has become tradition, the Italian duo pretended to take a bite out of their medals which appeared to catch Yaqin off guard – and the teenager’s reaction rapidly went viral across social media.
After doing a double-take, Yaqin soon joined her fellow competitors in chewing down on her shiny silver medal. The trio then took a selfie together in a moment they will no doubt remember for the rest of their lives.
‘Zhou Yaqin looked like she wasn’t sure what was happening there!’ Eurosport’s commentator joked.
‘A really worthy silver medal. I know she made that mistake but her difficulty and her style and class on the balance beam.
‘I’m really pleased to see her with her silver.’
Olympic athletes chowing down on their medals has become something of a ritual in recent times, leaving many spectators confused.
‘It’s become an obsession with the photographers,’ David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told CNN ahead of this summer’s Games.
‘I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I don’t think it’s something the athletes would probably do on their own.’
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