Olympic 2024 is underway, and we couldn’t be more fired up about that. With an exuberant opening show, the celebration of the sporting spirit of body and mind kicked off on July 26. Tonight, as we headed to the second official day of the event, a lot has been catching our eyes simultaneously from different sections of the top-notch global competition. To make quick scrutiny of the gymnastic periphery, the name that has been a recurring theme for the last few hours is Simone Biles, the star performer of the US belt who dazzled the world to advance toward the finals as a heavy favorite for gold, advancing towards the finals, despite dealing with an undisclosed calf injury. However, as we know, a game always has its reverse side, and it’s not all a bed of roses, to say the least. Quite unfortunately, Ou Yushan, a distinguished gymnast representing the land of the Red Dragon, landed on that side.

A young budding gymnast from Beijing raised the expectation bar of the whole country as well as the world by sliding through the Olympic qualifier parameters back in the Tokyo Olympics four years ago. Despite an Achilles injury, Yushan calculatively competed on the balance beam, uneven bars, and the vault.

What happened to Ou Yushan at the Paris Olympics?

The gritty performance Yushan delivered alongside fellow aerialists Lu Yufei, Tang Xijing, and Zhang Jin, the lady, turned into one of the major cynosures of the Chinese gymnastic realm to watch out for in the future. Although Yushan could not advance to the individual finals but contributed to China’s overall team performance. Now, while the entire nation was keeping their eyes fixed on the promising athlete to make history in Paris, the dream seemingly came to a heart-wrenching end today at the qualifier battle. After starting on an impressive note, Yushan met a tragic fate.

Ou and Qiu Qi Yuan fell on the beam. While Qiu Qi Yuan’s performance still beat the crap out of Jo and Suni, Yushan remained stuck in the lane. We are still in the dark about the future consequences of it, deciding the ultimate Olympic fate for the 20-year-old world-class athlete. The people of her nation keep crossing their fingers, manifesting a miracle for the Chinese wonder, who has had plenty of accolades ornate her name to speak for herself in the past.

 Past achievements of Yushan and her chances at Paris 2024

Ou Yushan’s notable international achievement began with winning multiple golds at the 2021 Summer World University Games. The Guangdong girl started to be the regular face of domestic competitions. Gradually, she paved her way for the Chinese National Championship scene, clinching the first spot over there. However, she experienced a withdrawal in the Women’s All-Around final at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships despite grabbing a gold medal for the balance team to recover from a grueling injury.

She faced a set of other injury setbacks as well. She had to relinquish her spot in the Chinese National Championships in September of the same year due to a heavily bruised knee. But weeding out all the odds, Ou possesses a jaw-dropping collection of four golds, including women’s all-around, balance beam, floor exercise, and team competition so far.

While the Beijing Sport University alumni currently stand in the 8th position with an overall point of 53.965, with Biles leading the list, her resilience to bounce back and destiny will decide the rest.

To judge the odds from the past, we can refer to an old insight from Ou from 2021, when she made a similar mess by falling twice on the beam. Upon returning from that setback, Ou learned some important lessons. She noted she pinpointed some issues, including consistency of training, lack of mental balance, and some other core technicalities. Given she has surpassed years after that mishap and continued honing her craft, we can expect a slim scope of her ability to break off a potential disqualification.

What are your thoughts on the saddening fate of Ou Yushan in Paris? Do you see a chance of her getting away with the mischance? Let us know in the comments below.