The activities of Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin have stolen the spotlight after winning a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This happened after Zhou Yaqin, an 18-year-old gymnast, was seen helping serve customers at her family’s restaurant in China. Interestingly, at that moment, she was also seen wearing the Chinese Contingent’s Olympic uniform.
According to China Global Television Network (CGTN), Zhou Yaqin’s family restaurant is located in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, China. The viral video was uploaded by ShanghaiPanda on X (formerly Twitter). In the video, there is a caption, “Do you remember the cute Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin? After winning the Olympic silver medal, she returned to her parents’ house for a vacation. Of course, you can’t call it a vacation because she needs to help work at the restaurant run by her parents.”
The post received positive reactions from other social media users. “It’s so touching to see Zhou Yaqin balancing Olympic success with family responsibilities. Very humble!” wrote one of the user X. “She won silver, but gave gold service to her parents’ restaurant customers. She wore her sportswear. What a great marketing strategy for the restaurant,” wrote another user X.
Zhou Yaqin admitted that she prioritizes family, outside of her sports career. Yaqin also shared a photo of a wall containing all her achievements in gymnastics displayed in her family’s restaurant. The photo uploaded on social media Weibo made people admire Yaqin even more as an athlete and the daughter of a restaurant owner. “I recommend everyone to come visit my family’s restaurant,” she wrote.
Previously, Zhou Yaqin won a silver medal in gymnastics and her performance received praise. This is because she is only 18 years old. She stood out among many competitors and her achievements received a lot of attention.
Zhou is one of five Chinese gymnasts at the 2024 Paris Olympics along with Luo Huan, Ou Yushan, Qiu Qiyuan, and Zhang Yihan. The Chinese women’s gymnastics team won two silver medals and Zhou won it for artistic gymnastics in the women’s balance beam event. At that time, during the 2024 Paris Olympics medal ceremony, Zhou Yaqin’s actions also stole attention.
The reason is, she seemed confused about what to do during the photo session after receiving the medal. She then imitated the style of two other athletes beside her who bit their medals when being photographed.
Quoted from the official Olympic website, at that time, Zhou was accompanied by Alice D’Amato, who became the Olympic women’s gymnastics champion and her compatriot Manila Esposito, on the podium. When the three women took the podium during the medal ceremony on Monday, August 5, D’Amato and Esposito bit their medals to be photographed. Zhou turned to her Italian colleagues, saw them biting their medals, and immediately followed suit, lifting the medals, then biting them.
