Olympic viewers almost in tears over gymnast’s unexpected reaction to podium celebrations

Footage of Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin's reaction after winning a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics has gone viral.

We are now in the final stretch of the Games, and every second counts.

People are not only hooked to the performance of the athletes - but also their behaviour after winning one of the coveted medals.

Yaqin, an 18-year-old first time Olympian, stunned crowds when securing a silver medal in the women’s gymnastics balance beam final on 5 August.

When standing on the iconic podium and posing with her medal, her reaction to the fellow winners' biting their medals has stolen the hearts of viewers.

Yaqin could be seen holding her medal and smiling, before side-eyeing Italy's Alice D’Amato, 21, and Manila Esposito, 17, who placed their medals between their teeth.

Yaqin then sheepishly brought her medal to her own mouth in order to join in on the fun - though didn't actually bite it.

Fair enough, we can only imagine how many people have touched them before they make their way to the winners.

While some are just fawning over Yaqin's keenness to follow the others' lead, others are admiring the way in which the Olympics brings different cultures together.

One person wrote: "My best part of the Olympics are the cultural differences shown by the athletes. A true learning curve."

A TikTok video made by Team USA gymnastics team, made up of Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles, went viral as they pretended to snack on their medals.

It has become somewhat of a tradition throughout the years, leading the official Tokyo Olympics account to joke on Twitter during their Games: “We just want to officially confirm that the Tokyo 2020 medals are not edible!”

It seems that the tradition is rooted in interesting facts.

Tony Bijkerk, secretary-general of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told Today: "We know that only in 1912 the gold medals were real gold and that in all later Olympics the gold medals were made from silver with a gilt layer to show it as being gold.

"Unfortunately, the gold layer sometimes had a tendency to fade over the years. Fanny Blankers-Koen, the heroine of the 1948 Olympics in London, who was a good friend of mine, once told me that she had to have her four gold medals re-gilded two times over the years.”

It seems athletes may bite their medals in order to seek an indent on the metal, proving it's real gold.

Nevertheless, people all over the globe swooned at Yaqin's reaction.

One wrote: "Like a lil sister copying her big sisters and it’s too cute!!"

Another said: "That's so wholesome!"