This Chinese Olympic Swimmer Who Freely Discussed Her Period Is our Hero

Women have been competing at the Olympic games for 116 years now.

“When girls first start their periods, they embark on a decades-long journey of silence and dread”, Jones wrote.

But this fact is rarely discussed or even acknowledged, until now-and we have Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui to thank for that.

Fu, who is already a viral favorite in China for her animated facial expressions and candid sense of humor, was approached by a journalist Sunday after China finished fourth in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay.

“I really admire Fu Yuanhui for swimming while she was on her period – women can be affected during their periods, especially with period pain”, wrote another.

The 20-year-old swimmer was found crouched behind a board suffering from cramps before she was interviewed.

But Fu wasn’t having it.

It’s because I just got my period yesterday, so I’m still a bit weak and really exhausted. She added, “But this isn’t an excuse for not swimming well”.

Fu had clocked the same time as third place Kylie Masse meaning they both won bronze.

It found that out of 1,073 women, nearly a third felt their performance was affected by their periods, and 36 per cent had suffered from heavy menstrual bleeding, known as menorrhagia.

It’s understood that China’s first domestically produced tampons, Danbishuang, will be launched soon.

“When I mentioned tampons to some of my friends who have not been overseas yet, the first thing they said was ‘ah, is that what American girls use during their period?” It’s widely believed there that tampons compromise a woman’s virginity.

Fu has been praised on Chinese social media site Weibo for her honesty surrounding a subject that is still considered highly taboo in her home country. “Chinese people have prejudices about tampons – as a woman over 30, I’d been ignorant, and full of fear, about tampons until now too”.

It’s not just China.

“The state spends a lot of money on her – and she’s talking about her period?” Her teammate helped her get up and the interviewer asked her if her stomach hurt, according to Shanghaiist. The country does not manufacture any tampons, and the only ways to procure them are either to buy the sole imported brand, o.b., from high-end stores, or to purchase them online.

You’d think that in 2016, a woman publicly acknowledging her reproductive system would hardly be newsworthy.

Female Olympians are breaking all kinds of records this year-we’ve watched Simone Manuel become the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic swimming event, Katie Ledecky leave world records in her wake and Simone Biles become the first female USA gymnast to win three medals in one game.

As mind-boggling as it is that these things need to be said: women get periods.