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Fran Lu

Chinese gymnast and Paris Olympic silver medallist Zhou Yaqin has gone viral online for helping out at her family restaurant after returning home.
The first-time Olympian, who is only 18, won a silver medal in the balance beam event.
She had previously gone viral when she endearingly learned the medal-biting tradition on the podium from the Italian gymnasts who had won gold and bronze.
She has wowed social media again after returning to her hometown in central China’s Hunan province, where her family owns a restaurant business.

A video filmed by a customer on August 11 shows Zhou serving tables dressed in Team China Olympic sportswear.
Zhou’s father said his daughter also helped with the cleaning as well.
He was so proud of his daughter that he had hung photos of her medals and of her receiving the awards “in every room of the restaurant”.
His business became popular thanks to her success.
He said many people called to ask if he is Zhou’s father, and the restaurant had been fully booked since her debut at the Olympics.
Zhou also promotes the restaurant on her Weibo account, which has 117,000 followers.

On social media, many praised the top gymnast’s modest lifestyle.
“This must be the highest level of service one can get at any Chinese restaurant,” one person said on Douyin.
“No matter how successful you are on the world stage, you still need to help your family out at home,” wrote another.
“The silver medallist has a golden heart,” said a third.
“Did serving the dishes help her practise a sense of balance?” one person joked.
Zhou began learning gymnastics at the age of three in 2008 when the Olympic Games was held in Beijing.
By the time she was six, she had already bagged home two golds, two silvers, and one bronze in the city games.
In 2021, Zhou shocked gymnastics fans by winning the national balance beam event and beating several national gymnasts while she was still a provincial team member.
Since then, Zhou has been known to her fans as “Queen Qin”.
Only the best female gymnasts can be called a “queen”, according to a fan on Douban.

Zhou debuted on a global stage at last year’s World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium and won second place in the balance beam event, losing by only 0.1 point to US gymnast Simone Biles.
At the 2024 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, Zhou won two golds, one in the balance beam event and the other for her floor exercise.
After Zhou came second at the Paris Olympics, there was even a rumour circulating on social media that “Queen Qin never goes home empty-handed”.
“She never gets over anxious for quick results, and always takes things one step at a time,” her father said.


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China Olympian Zhou Yaqin returns to work in father’s hometown restaurant, boosts business

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Dressed in her Olympic outfit, Zhou Yaqin gets busy in the restaurant’s kitchen. Photo: Douyin

The walls of the restaurant are festooned with photographs showcasing Zhou’s Olympic success. Photo: Douyin

The youngster delighted millions of hearts when she got in on the medal-biting act. Photo: Douyin

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People & Culture

China Personalities

World champion gymnast dubbed ‘Queen Qin’ is modest, good daughter who helps her proud family


Teenage Chinese gymnast, Zhou Yaqin, who won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics and endeared herself on the global stage by trying the medal-biting tradition, returns to her roots and works in her father’s restaurant.
