Champion Gymnast becomes viral after shared bold dance videos while the neck injury ends Olympic dreams

Wu Liufang, a 30-year-old former Chinese client gymnast, became a social media influencer who supports her family. She turned to live streaming to “rewrite her fate” and became viral for her videos.

WU began to share brave dance videos online after being changed from sports teacher in 2019. She was criticized immediately.

She was banned twice because she had violated platform rules in Chinese social media. However, she returned in January.

Wu, born in a village in China's region of Guangxi, was the daughter of hiking workers. She rose as a top gymnast. She got the nickname “Balance Beam Princess” for her world championship titles.

A neck injury in 2012 ended her Olympic dreams and retired in 2013. WU later became a trainer and teacher before she turned to Vlogging full -time in 2019.

WU explained her decision during a speech. She said her mother was seriously ill and her father had to borrow money for medicinal bills. Her low content made her feel helpless.

“I was sad to see how my mother lies in bed. My salary was pretty low at the time. I wondered:” Can I take good care of my parents when they get older? “

“At that time I made the bold decision to rewrite my fate. I will be a live streamer,” she added.

In 2023, Olympic champion Guan Chen criticized her dance videos and led to a ban on social media. When Wu's account was restored a week later, her followers jumped from 44,000 to 7 million.

Return after the ban

After the ban in December, WU lost 6 million followers. However, she returned and received support again.

She has almost 9 Lakh supporters and over 80 Lakh -Likes on Douyin (China's version of TIKTOK). She now publishes videos about Chinese culture and ethnic clothing. Her latest live streams attracted over a million spectators.