Heartiest of welcomes that reduced U.S. athlete to tears

An exchange between an athlete from the United States and a Chinese volunteer at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Feb 4 has touched the public, with many internet users hailing it as a beautiful display of the Olympic spirit.

On Feb 5, snowboarder Tessa Maud uploaded a video on TikTok documenting her entry into the National Stadium in Beijing with the U.S. team at the opening ceremony. In the video she captured a volunteer in a pink shirt waving his hands at her excitedly and shouting “Welcome to China”.

In another video she said she “kept watching the opening ceremony video over and over again and was just crying because it was the cutest thing ever”.

“That guy who said ‘Welcome to China’ literally makes me tear up every time,” Maud said in the video. “They are so nice. All the volunteers are so sweet and kind. They are so happy that we’re here. We feel so welcomed.”

Her videos were watched by hundreds of thousands, and many left comments saying they were touched by the warmth and friendliness of the volunteers.

“Those volunteers were on their feet jumping around for a couple of hours and still had so much energy,” one user said.

Another said, “This is the kind of Olympics we are supposed to have, just people with Olympic spirit celebrating together.”

The videos also circulated widely on Chinese social media and caught the attention of the volunteer involved, Sun Zeyu, an undergraduate student at Tsinghua University. After watching the video, he wrote to Maud, saying he was “really touched” that she remembered him and the welcome.

He also thanked her for recording the most unforgettable moment of his life and invited her to visit China again when the pandemic is over.

“I can be your tour guide and say ‘Welcome to China’ to you again without a face mask.”

On Feb 6 Maud, after reading Sun’s message, put out another video saying she was “so beyond thankful” for Sun and other new friends who have been so loving and welcoming.

Sun said he had received many messages of love and support.

During the ceremony, Maud was filming with her smartphone and kept shouting ni hao, Mandarin for hello, to volunteers, so Sun thought he should say something back in English.

“When I watched Tessa’s video and saw myself in it, I was really excited for quite a while,” Sun said. “The most memorable moment of my life was being captured by her camera. I felt really touched, too.”

He had obtained Maud’s personal email address, which was even more special to him than adding someone as an instant messaging contact, he said.