Champion gymnast goes viral after sharing bold dance videos as neck injury ends Olympic dreams, gets banned

Wu Liufang, a 30-year-old former Chinese national gymnast, became a social media influencer to support her family. She turned to live-streaming to “rewrite her destiny” and went viral for her videos. 

Wu began sharing bold dance videos online after switching from being a sports teacher in 2019. She immediately faced criticism.

She was banned twice for violating platform rules on Chinese social media. However, she returned in January.

Wu, born in a village in China’s Guangxi region, was the daughter of migrant workers. She rose to fame as a top gymnast. She got the nickname “balance beam princess” for her world titles.

A neck injury in 2012 ended her Olympic dreams, and she retired in 2013. Wu later became a coach and teacher before turning 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 medical bills. Her low salary made her feel helpless.

“I was sad seeing my mother lying in the bed. My salary was quite low then. I asked myself, ‘can I take good care of my parents when they get older?’,” the South China Morning Post quoted Wu as saying.

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

In 2023, Olympic champion Guan Chenchen criticised her dance videos, leading to a social media ban. When Wu’s account was restored a week later, her followers jumped from 44,000 to 7 million.

Return after ban

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

On Douyin (China's version of TikTok), she has nearly 9 lakh followers and over 80 lakh likes. She now posts videos about Chinese culture and ethnic clothing. Her recent live streams drew over a million viewers.