Period blood wasn't shameful for this Chinese Olympian, shouldn't be for you
Fu Yuanhui is probably China's most popular female athlete. Photo: Reuters/CCTV
Female Olympians are dominating the headlines this season. Our own Dipa Kamarkar ended fourth in Artistic Gymnastics and gave the country its most memorable sporting moment in years. Simone Biles has become the first African-American woman to win not one but three individual Olympic swimming events and an American - Katie Ledecky - has become the face of the world's greatest swimming competition.
But the most important socio-cultural moment - a veritable message in a swimming pool - however, belongs to Chinese swimmer, Fu Yuanhui, who openly spoke out on menstruation in/during sports and broke an age-old taboo.
After ending fourth in the women's 4×100-metre medley relay, Fu Yuanhui said: "I feel I didn't swim well today. I let my teammates down." Fu added: "Because my period came yesterday, I'm feeling a bit weak, but this is not an excuse."
Fu is probably China's most popular female athlete, with her expression "mystic energy" now a raging meme in China.
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| Fu's "mystic energy" has been quite the buzz in China. Photo: Reuters |
Speaking about menstruation gained her even more fans than winning a medal, especially in the wake of a new conservatism taking hold of women in China who are shying away from tampons.
Fu Yuanhui dismantles female stereotypes too. She's talking about her menstrual cycle at the Olympics. Wow. Remove shame, stigma & silence.
— Aimee (@metaphor_muse) August 16, 2016
Fu Yuanhui talking about her period is the Olympic hero I can relate to
— Tali Aualiitia (@taliaualiitia) August 16, 2016
"Someone accused Fu of lying, asking how she could have gone in the water on her period," user Dvingnew wrote on the Chinese social media site Weibo. "Chinese people have prejudices about tampons - women in their 30s around me are ignorant about tampons, and full of fear about tampons."
A recent industry survey said that only 2 per cent of all women in China use tampons. Some Chinese women have even been told to avoid tampons because it could make them "lose their virginity", despite health experts pointing out that the two things are unrelated.
Fu might only go back home from Rio with one medal, but has won many fans worldwide.
You can watch her full post-match interview here.