US-born Chinese figure skater Zhu Yi says online criticism 'did hurt me a little bit'

BEIJING — There is a California-born teenager competing for host China at the 2022 Winter Olympics receiving online hate, and it's not free skier Eileen Gu. 

Quite contrary to the adulation that Gu has received for embracing China, women's figure skater Zhu Yi faced harsh online criticism in China after she fell during the women's short program in the team event early in the Olympics. 

Zhu, who moved to China last year after living the first 18 years of her life in southern California, crashed into the wall and finished last.

The performance dropped China from third to fifth. According to CNN, the hashtag "Zhu Yi Has Fallen" reached 200 million views on the social media website Weibo. Zhu, whose American name is Beverly, also had been criticized online for not speaking fluent Chinese. 

“In the beginning, (the comments) did hurt me a little bit," Zhu said Tuesday. "Of course, I was able to just see it from a different light. And just use it to my own advantage.” 

On Tuesday, Zhu ended the individual short program ranked 27th out of 30, meaning she didn't qualify for Thursday's free skate. 

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Zhu has consulted with a sports psychologist through Team China, she said, to help navigate the difficult time. 

"At first, it was very hard to transition to China, especially within a sports team," Zhu said. "When you’re enclosed in an area with everybody, I wasn’t used to that." 

Zhu said she has no regrets choosing to represent China and that she was grateful for the support she has received from both the U.S. and China. 

"I just hope that from now on more people will understand the situation before they go on the internet and express their feelings," the 19-year-old said. 

She added: “Honestly, being Chinese-American, there’s a lot of good things from both sides and you use this to your advantage. I’m able to speak English. I’m able to speak Chinese, of course, my Chinese needs to improve. It’s only been a year of me living back here. I’m proud to be Chinese-American.”

And what would Zhu tell the people lobbing insults on social media? 

“I would say I’m Beverly Yi Zhu and I am a normal girl trying to live out her Olympic experience and enjoy this time as a figure skater,” she said.

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.