Athletic aesthetics a more healthy standard for beauty

Illustration: Liu Xiangya/Global Times

Chinese athlete Wu Yanni won the 100-meter hurdles gold medal with a time of 12.93 seconds at the national athletics champions race last week. Apart from her victory, she has also been hailed for her sunny appearance, confidence and tenacity. Many netizens are treating her as a "new idol," which has sparked discussions about beauty standards for women. 

Wu was born in 1997 in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. When Wu was in the fifth grade, she was selected by a local youth sports school due to her outstanding talent. 

Thanks to years of professional training and her own hard work, she has made great stride. According to her coaches, she was a great physical fit for hurdles, especially with her can-do attitude for major sports events, which has helped boost her courage to tackle challenges. 

Right before the competition, Wu was seen slightly turning her head around and biting her lips as she placed two hands on her waist, looking much more at ease than her peers. Although she was a bit slow at the start, she quickly caught up and followed closely behind the leading runner, before finally hitting the finish line first. 

Her confidence has won the favor of young netizens and sparked heated discussion about the standards of beauty for Chinese women. Some people described her as possessing an athletic beauty that makes her "better looking than some skinny movie stars."

In recent years, influenced by movie star idols, "fair skin, youthful looks and a slim body" have been regarded as the standards of beauty. 

Many young women spend a lot of money on cosmetics, skincare products and even beauty treatments, and they also try every possible way to keep slim such as going on diets, and even starving themselves. 

The market also serves as a driving force for this trend. The sizes of fashions are getting smaller and smaller. 

Not long ago, even a famous movie star complained that she could not "fit in them." 

This phenomenon has triggered many young women's anxiety toward their appearance and set an extreme standard for women's beauty. 

Yet the concept of beauty is never fixed. Looking back at Chinese history, this standard has always been changing, from frail and slender to plump and graceful and back to frail and elegant. 

In the late 20th century, strong and healthy women were considered beautiful, but in recent decades, many young people started to prefer slim figures due to the influence of idols and ads.  

But nowadays there is also a growing debate that is shifting the appreciation of beauty, as many are making fitness a priority rather than appearance. Many netizens admired not only Wu's fit figure, but also her vitality, intelligence, and positive attitude toward life. 

At the previous Olympics, the athletes' swift moves, fit bodies and tenacious spirit amazed Chinese audiences. 

Kenneth Fok, vice president of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, has recently called for fans to favor sports stars. 

The recent popularity of Wu shows that this idea of athletic beauty has been more and more recognized and accepted as beauty diversifies in society.