After taking silver in the beam at Paris 2024 China’s Zhou Yaqin went viral after copying the Italian medal winners medal biting
China’s beam silver medallist Zhou Yaqin went viral after copying Italian gold and bronze medallists’ biting their medals.
Zhou Yaqin is China’s 18-year-old gymnast. Competing at her first Olympics she won a silver on the women’s balance beam event.
When posing for pictures after the event, her startled reaction and copying of the Italian gold and silver medallists’ medal-biting quickly went viral.
Alice D’Amato won gold, becoming Italy’s first-ever Olympic women’s gymnastic champion, and her compatriot Manila Esposito took bronze. The two bite their medals for the cameras, an act that was seemingly unknown to China’s Zhou Yaqin.
She looked to the Italians with shock, before mimicking them by bringing the silver medal to her mouth. Though appearing to not actually bite it.
Some on social media said that this sweet moment reflected the ability of the Olympic Games to bring people from different cultures and backgrounds together to achieve common goals.
One commented: “Watching the athletes show off the differences in culture is what I love most about the Olympic Games.”
Zhou scored 14.100 to win silver, while D’Amato received 14.366 for gold. Third place Esposito received 14.000 from the judges.
Favourite Simone Biles of America fell off the beam losing out on a medal place.
The practice of biting medals supposedly originated from the act of traders biting gold coins to check their authenticity. As a soft metal, if the coin was really gold a bite mark would be left.
However, since 1912 the Olympics has stopped giving solid gold medals. At Paris 2024 only six grams of the gold medals 529 grams total is actually gold. Silver makes up most of the weight.
Unique to Paris, each medal also contains iron from the Eiffel Tower.
If they’re not real gold then why do athletes still bite? The reason is simple, photographers think it makes a good photo, and just ask athletes to do it.
