Fu Yuanhui

Fu Yuanhui (; born January 7, 1996) is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in backstroke. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100-meter backstroke.

Early life On January 7, 1996, Fu was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. She is the only daughter to her parents Fu Chunsheng (傅春昇) and Shen Ying (沈英).

Fu started swimming at the age of 5.

Swimming career 2012 Summer Olympics At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she competed in the Women's 100 metre backstroke, finishing in 8th place in the final.

2013 World Championships At the 2013 World Aquatics Championship in Barcelona, Fu placed second in the 50 metre backstroke, losing to her teammate Zhao Jing with a time of 27.39s.

2014 Asian Games At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Fu won two gold medals in the 50 m and 100 m backstroke.

2015 World Championships

She won the 50 metre backstroke at the World Aquatics Championship in 2015 and helped China win the 4x100 metre medley. In the interview, Fu complained her swimsuit was too tight.

2016 Summer Olympics

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Fu gained popularity and became a swimming icon nationwide.

Fu won a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke by tying for third place with Canadian swimmer Kylie Masse. She finished in a national record time of 58.76. Throughout the Olympics, her cheerful interviews and goofy demeanor made her very popular. Mark Dreyer, a Beijing-based sports writer, noted that Fu exemplified "a positive trend in Chinese sports whereby athletics was undergoing a transition away from "manufactured Olympic champions" from the state-run sports system who were effective at bringing home medals but had cardboard personalities and inspired little devotion among fans'. Her series of facial expressions spread widely in the Internet, and her sayings such as "I've already spent my supernatural energy!" became very popular catchwords.

A few days later, after her lackluster performance in the 4×100-meter medley relay where the team placed fourth, she told an interviewer that she was on her period; many commended her decision to speak about this, menstruation being considered a taboo topic in sports.

2016 Asian Swimming Championships At the 2016 Asian Swimming Championships in Tokyo, Fu won gold medals for the first time. She won two gold medals in the 50 m and 100 m backstroke and a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Fu was very happy to show her medals on her Weibo.

Personal life Since 2016, Fu has been one of the most popular athletes in China. She takes part in some TV talk shows and charity activities. Fu also makes friends with many other swimmers such as Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen. She was a guest of the 2017 CCTV New Year's Gala.

Personal bests (long course)

EventTimeMeetDateNote(s)50 m backstroke 27.11 2015 World Aquatics Championships August 6, 2015100 m backstroke 58.72 2017 Chinese National Championships April 12, 2017 NR 200 m backstroke 2.08.84 2015 BHP Super Series January 30, 2015

Notes and references