Chinese gymnast Zhang Yihan had a heartwarming fangirl moment at the 2024 Olympics after doing what any of us would do if we were in the same room as Simone Biles.
The 16-year-old represented her country at the world’s biggest sporting event, placing eighth in the uneven bars final.
Before her first Olympic Games, Zhang competed at the 2022 Chinese Youth Championships, where she took home three medals: gold on uneven bars, silver on vault, and bronze on floor exercise.
Image credits: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Image credits: Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages
The Chinese gymnastics star also won two silver medals for vault and uneven bars at the 2023 Kazan Friendly.
This year, she became age-eligible for senior competitions and made her senior debut at the 2024 Cottbus World Cup, where she finished fourth on uneven bars.
In addition to securing a medal at the Olympics, the Henan native had one more item on her wishlist: a photo with her idol, Simone Biles.
A video taken on Day 1 of the women’s gymnastics qualification round captures the talented teenager refusing to leave the Bercy Arena in Paris before she got a souvenir from the unique experience.
Zhang refused to leave the Barcy Arena on Day 1 of the women’s gymnastics qualification round before taking a picture with her idol
In the clip, teammate Qiu Qiyuan could be heard telling Zhang she could put her coat back on after the competition ended, but the 16-year-old declined.
“I can’t. I have to get a photo with Simone Biles,” she responded while stomping her feet.
At the time, Simone had reportedly left to do an interview, so Zhang didn’t manage to speak with her.
The video, taken on July 28, sparked collective “awws” after it was shared on Reddit.
“This is so cute! More of this kind of sportsmanship!” someone exclaimed.
“She is just too cute! It really seemed like Team China in women’s gymnastics was having a great time, and I’m happy to see it,” another person agreed.
A third individual, who shared Zhang’s admiration for Simone, wrote, “This is the cutest. I would try to take photos with everyone if I was in the village.”
Image credits: Zhang Yihan/Douyin
Image credits: Zhang Yihan/Douyin
“The gymnasts in this competition have been so friendly to one another. This has been one of the best competitions,” said a separate Redditor.
Another video of the young gymnast reacting to Simone’s floor routine with excited clapping evoked similar reactions online, with one person writing that Zhang was very sweet for “fangirling while at work.”
Among the stars who admired Simone’s performance from the audience were Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Tom Cruise, Greta Gerwig, John Legend, and Snoop Dogg, SportsKeeda reported.
Although the rising gymnast didn’t win any medals at the 2024 Olympics, she eventually saw her second wish fulfilled.
A series of photos posted on the r/Olympics subreddit show Zhang posing with the 27-year-old gymnastics legend.
Zhang posed with other talented gymnasts, including medalists Jordan Chiles and Rebeca Andrade
Image credits: Zhou Yaqin/Weibo
Image credits: Zhang Yihan/Douyin
Image credits: Zhang Yihan/Douyin
Image credits: Zhang Yihan/Douyin
She chose to immortalize the moment in the form of a Polaroid and even got Simone to sign it.
Simone, the most decorated gymnast in American history, concluded her Olympic journey with three gold medals and one silver.
Her collection of Olympic medals now stands at 11.
"This is the wholesome content I needed," wrote a fan
