Watch This Wholesome Moment When China's Gymnast Reacts To Biting Medals At Paris Olympics
She just looks happy to be there. T.T
By Tamara Jayne — 06 Aug 2024, 05:21 PM
China's Olympic gymnast Zhou Yaqin recently warmed hearts with her endearing reaction on the podium at Paris Olympics 2024
The 18-year-old won silver for the women's balance beam event yesterday, 5 August.
Standing on the podium next to her were Italian gymnasts Alice D'Amato, who won gold, and Manila Esposito, who took bronze.
As they smiled for the cameras, the gold and bronze winners gave the obligatory Olympic chomp into their medals.
However, Yaqin appeared a little lost.
Glancing over at her fellow gymnasts biting into their medals, Yaqin gave a surprised look but tried to imitate their pose in the most adorable way
In the video, the first-time Olympian can be seen placing the medal carefully in front of her mouth instead of biting into it.
Even as she got off the podium, Yaqin walked in the opposite direction from the others and was later redirected by one of the staff members
So innocent and adorable. T.T
Biting into Olympic medals is a tradition that photographers usually ask the winners to do for photos
Historically, traders used to bite into gold coins to check their authenticity when the precious metal was used as currency. Gold is a soft metal that dents under slight stress and can be marked even by teeth.
Of course, Olympians aren't checking the purity of their medals, as their medals are mostly made of silver.
According to Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stopped awarding pure gold medals in 1912. But the tradition of biting into them has continued until today, simply for photo purposes.
The BBC reported that this year's Olympic medals are made from scrap metal leftover from repairing and refurbishing the Eiffel Tower, which had been secretly stored for years in a warehouse.
