Chinese gymnast breaks down in tears after losing Olympics medal by hairline margin
Chinese gymnast Shang Chunsong might have lost out on the bronze medal for the women's individual all-found finals by 0.114 point, but she's still a winner in the eyes of the people back home in China.
The 20-year-old gymnast from Hunan, China, broke down at the Rio Olympics gymnasium on Friday when her resulting score of 58.549 put her in fourth place after Russian gymnast Aliya Mustafina, who scored 58.665.
Upon hearing her results, Shang broke down in tears while her teammate tried to console her. She later told reporters: "Actually I didn’t expect I would get anything before the Games, but after the fourth rotation when I saw the result of Aliya Mustalfina was very close to mine, I felt upset at that moment. I thought I could have won a medal."
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Since the video of Shang's reaction went viral, there has been an outpouring of sympathy and support towards her on Weibo.
One commenter wrote: "You are great! You are great! You are great"
Another said: "I watched the telecast. Saw Shang crying, so heartbreaking."
This is Shang's first Olympics and all eyes have been on her since Chinese media outlets started reporting on her humble journey to the Games.
According to South China Morning Post, Shang grew up in a remote village with an older brother who has a visual impairment and her parents worked as construction workers to make ends meet. Under those circumstances, Shang was malnourished and in order to help pay for her gymnastics training, her brother stopped attending school at the age at 13 to work as a blind masseur.
Despite her family's hardships and her own poor health -- she is known to fall sick often due to her slight frame -- Shang has been the pride and joy of China since she started competing in 2013.
So far, she has 13 gold medals under her belt from national competitions and helped lead her team to an Olympic bronze medal in women's team gymnastics earlier this week.
