"As soon as I arrived in China, I felt so much love and welcome. I can't wait to return to China in the future and travel around. ”
Just two days after returning to the United States, Tessa Maud, an American skier who was "warmly crying" by Chinese volunteers, began to miss China. On February 15, she posted on social media Instagram that she loved and appreciated China, "I love the people, the food and the culture here. Thank you for supporting me. ”
Image source: Tessa Ins
Tessa is an American female snowboarder born in 2003. On February 9, the 18-year-old scored 53.50 points in the women's U-shaped track skills qualifier for snowboarding, ranking 16th, and unfortunately failed to advance to the final.
Despite her poor performance on the field, Tessa's frank expression on the sidelines made her loved by thousands of Chinese audiences.
"They were so friendly. All the volunteers were nice and sweet. They were happy to see us here and we felt like home. On February 5, Tessa, who had just attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics the night before, released a video about her touching experience of being warmly welcomed by Chinese volunteers at the opening ceremony.
She said, "After I came back last night, I was lying in bed and crying because I watched the video over and over again. "The guy who said to me, 'Welcome to China,' really can't help but cry whenever I think about it."
Tessa posted a screenshot of the video
This video of true feelings has infected netizens at home and abroad. Some foreign netizens lamented that this is the charm of the Olympic spirit. There are also a large number of Chinese netizens who leave messages under Tessa's video and send her various warm wishes.
Tessa also specially recorded the netizens' blessing messages and posted them on social media to thank them.
Screenshot from Tessa Ins
And Sun Zeyu, a pink volunteer who greeted her warmly, also wrote to her to send her blessings. Tessa replied movingly: "I cried when I received this letter, I love Sun Zeyu and all my new friends. ”
In an interview, Tessa said that when the volunteers said "Welcome to China", I felt a very special love at that moment, and I couldn't help but cry. Many netizens from the United States and other countries commented that my video gave them a lot of empathy, and they also miss China.
Tessa replied to volunteer Sun Zeyu Source: Tessa Ins
In addition to this heart-warming experience, Tesa also shared her bits and pieces in the Winter Olympic Village on social media, drying ice piers, drying training videos, eating dumplings, shopping, and taking photos with epidemic prevention personnel...
The wonderful life in the Winter Olympic Village made Tessa very reluctant, and on February 12, she posted a video on the eve of her return trip, choking up and saying goodbye. She says "I'm sad" in the video, is silent for a few seconds and then says "I'm going to cry on the plane, I'm going to choke, love you guys." ”
On February 15, Tessa, who had just returned to the United States for a few days, posted again, reviewing her trip to the Winter Olympics and expressing her love and gratitude for China. "Thank you so much for this rare opportunity, I didn't perform as well as I had hoped and didn't show my best skiing skills. It's unfortunate, but I'm glad I can work harder and do better. Thank you all for your love and support over the past two weeks.
I felt so much love and welcome as soon as I arrived in China, and I can't wait to return to China and travel around in the future. I liked the people, the food and the culture very much. Thank you for supporting me. I can't wait to work hard to make my snowboarding and life better. Love you guys. Thank you! ”
This post was praised and blessed by many netizens, and many Chinese netizens left a message in the comment area, "Welcome to China again." Netizens @stillthere_stillthere comments were also liked by Tessa.
Image source: @stillthere_stillthere
Not only Tesa, the Beijing Winter Olympics have been praised and thanked by athletes from all over the world.
Lelani, a German female snowboarder who competed with Tessa, posted a thank you after her trip to the Winter Olympics: "I can't describe how happy I have been these days. Thank you so much for all the support and all the surprising messages! Thank you to everyone! ”
Maltese snowboarder Janice Spitery, who loves bean bags and hemp balls, posted in an invo thank you: "Thank you to all the new fans from China! Love from Dou BaoJie. ”
Japanese curler Yoshida Minami posted on February 13, "I have participated in three Winter Olympics and saw snow for the first time during the Winter Olympics. Chinese volunteers who worked hard to shovel snow in the Winter Olympic Village early in the morning, thank you for plowing snow in the cold weather, thank you! ”
Spanish freestyle skier Thibault Magnin posted a number of cartoons drawn for him by Chinese audiences, thanking him in Chinese and English: "So much love from China, thanks for the support that has been there, it's crazy!" Thank you! ”