A rough first showing at the Beijing Winter Olympics for U.S.-born Chinese figure skater Zhu Yi continued on Monday after she fell twice during the final event in the team competition before breaking down in tears on the ice.
Zhu, who was born in California but gave up her American citizenship to compete for China in 2018, began the women’s free skate event well, landing both her first two jumps before falling on a triple-flip attempt, according to Yahoo Sports.
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She took a second fall on her very next attempt.
Zhu Yi of China falls during the figure skating team event women’s single skating free skating at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 7, 2022. (Photo by Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
After finishing, Zhu broke down in tears. Emotions were high for the 19-year-old skater who was criticized heavily on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo, just a day earlier after her poor performance in the team’s competition short program event.
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China’s Zhu Yi reacts crying after competing in the women’s single skating free skating of the figure skating team event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 7, 2022. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)
She took a hard fall on her opening jump before later stumbling again for a last-place finish. Her performance knocked China out of third to fifth place in the team event at the time.
Social media users on the site attacked the skater, questioning her selection over others.
According to AFP, the hashtag #ZhuYiFellOver had over 230 million views by Sunday afternoon before being removed from the website. A second tag, #ZhuYiMessedUp, remained on the site with just around 80 million views at the time.
Zhu Yi of China reacts after the figure skating team event women’s single skating free skating at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 7, 2022. (Photo by Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
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Zhu finished Monday’s event in last place with a score of 91.41. The Russians took gold in the team event, followed by Team USA and Japan with a bronze medal finish. China placed fifth overall behind Canada.
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