Olympic US-born figure skater representing China slammed on Chinese social media after botched performance
Zhu’s performance knocked China out of third to fifth place in the team event
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zhu Yi, the 19-year-old U.S.-born figure skater competing for China in the Beijing Winter Olympics, was slammed on Chinese social media this weekend after her botched performance in the team event bumped China out of the top three.
Zhu, born in California, took a hard fall during her first combination attempt on Saturday, slamming into the wall before later stumbling on a triple loop attempt for a last-place finish with a 47.03 score.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yi Zhu of Team China falls during the women single skating short program team event of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 6, 2022 in Beijing. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
"I'm upset and a little embarrassed," Zhu said after her performance, via Reuters. "I guess I felt a lot of pressure because I know everybody in China was pretty surprised with the selection for ladies' singles and I just really wanted to show them what I was able to do, but unfortunately I didn’t."
Users on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo, didn’t hold back, questioning Zhu’s selection over others.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zhu Yi of China performs during the figure skating team event women's single skating short program match in Beijing on Feb. 6, 2022. (Li Yibo/Xinhua via Getty Images)
"Chen Hongyi is far better than her. I don’t know why someone like this was allowed to represent China," wrote one commenter, via AFP.
"Sure, there's lots of pressure – but show me an athlete who doesn’t go out there under pressure from their country and people?" another added.
According to AFP, the hashtag #ZhuYiFellOver had over 230 million views by Sunday afternoon before being removed from the website. A second tag, #ZhuYiMessedU, remained on the site with just around 80 million views.
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Yi Zhu of Team China falls during the women single skating short program team event during the Winter Olympics on Feb. 6, 2022, in Beijing. (Ni Minzhe/Chinasports/VCG via Getty Images)
Zhu’s performance knocked China out of third to fifth place in the team event, narrowly advancing to the finals.