Figure Skater Zhu Yi Harassed On Chinese Social Media After Falling In Winter Olympics

Zhu Yi, a figure skater born in California who renounced her American citizenship to compete for the People’s Republic of China in the Beijing Winter Olympics, has been facing harassment on the Chinese social media platform Weibo after falling in her Olympics debut routines.

She fell twice on Sunday during the women’s short program team event, and ultimately placed last. Negative reactions against her performance came swiftly on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter. After her falls on Sunday, Zhu told the Times, “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.”

Zhu, unfortunately, finished last again on Monday’s free skate event, part two of the figure skating team competition, after two stumbles and finished the routine in tears. She told China News Service, “I was very emotional during the routine and wanted to cry. I couldn’t hold it back, and the tears came flowing.”

After her Monday performance, China was pushed from third to fifth in the rankings in women’s team figure skating. Japan took home bronze, with the U.S. taking home silver and Russia winning gold.

Zhu was born Beverly Zhu in Los Angeles but changed her first name to Yi in 2018. Along with critiques of her falls, users on Weibo have attacked her for not speaking Chinese fluently, and for her emotions after the failed performances. Hashtags such as “Zhu Yi has fallen” became widely viewed on the platform, but Weibo eventually seemed to censor some posts.

The skater still has a chance at redemption, as she will be competing in the women’s singles events starting February 15.