An American-born figure skater who renounced her US citizenship to compete for China at the Winter Olympics is being slammed on the country’s most popular social media app Sunday after a disappointing performance.
Zhu Yi, 19, who skated onto the ice to cheers, fell twice during the women’s short program team event, knocking the host country down from third to fifth place.
“Zhu Yi has fallen” immediately became the top trending topic on Weibo — the Chinese equivalent of Twitter — after her poor showing, racking up 200 million views in mere hours, according to CNN.
The figure skater, who was recruited by China to join their team and gave up US citizenship to do so, crashed into the wall during her routine and fell again during the short performance.
Zhu Yi of Team China falls after slamming into the wall. VCG via Getty Images
Zhu Yi of Team China competes during the Women Single Skating Short Program Team Event. Ni Minzhe/CHINASPORTS/VCG via Getty Images
Zhu Yi renounced her US citizenship to compete for China. Instagram/@beverly.zhu
Zhu Yi’s performance knocked China down from third to fifth place. Instagram/@beverly.zhu“This is such a disgrace,” a commentator wrote on Weibo, receiving 11,000 likes, according to CNN.
“I’m upset and a little embarrassed,” Zhu said in an interview after the performance, according to the Daily Mail. “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.”
Social media users also criticized Zhu for not speaking fluent Chinese, comparing her to Chinese American darling and freeskier Eileen Gu, who was recruited to play for China and charmed the country with her perfect Mandarin.
Zhu Yi is being slammed on Weibo. AP Photo/Bernat Armangue
Zhu Yi fell twice during the event. Instagram/@beverly.zhu
Social media users also criticized Zhu Yi for not speaking fluent Chinese. Ni Minzhe/CHINASPORTS/VCG via Getty Images“Please let her learn Chinese first, before she talks about patriotism,” a Weibo user wrote about Zhu.
“Zhu Yi, how ridiculous your performance is! How dare you skate for China? You cannot even hold a candle to an amateur!” another griped.
The Winter Olympics in Beijing kicked off Friday. Competitions have just begun, but Norway currently leads with three medals total.
