ve. I, too, wanted Fu Yuanhui to be my best friend

In November, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on giving.I first heard of Chinese Olympic swimmer Fu Yuanhui when someone on Facebook posted an article about her with the caption: I want to be her best friend. I winced and moved on. For days, I did not click on the link, until I saw even more people posting about her -- always with the same words. Shes amazing. I love her. Too real.Oh, no, I thought. Oh no. I knew exactly where this was going. But I clicked anyway.When I was in elementary school, I was the only Asian in my grade. On the playground, my classmates pretended to be Chinese, saying things like ching-chong-chaw and doing kung-fu. At my desk, I seethed but could not explain why -- only that it came from some deep feeling that my classmates were pretending to be Chinese the way kids pretend to be aliens or superheroes.One afternoon, my classmates had gathered around me, fascinated by my eyes. Theyre different, one of them announced, and then they all stepped in closer. I wondered if I had became a caricature by being fully Asian and half-Chinese.When I grew older, the narrative changed. After college, I spent some time studying Chinese in China, in an attempt to understand my mothers culture. The majority of my male classmates had arrived on a different quest: They wanted a girlfriend.Chinese women are beautiful, one of my classmates told me. He handed me his phone. The contacts list was filled with the names of women hed met clubbing. The album was packed with photographs of him wrapped around each of the women hed met, their faces green and silver from the flashing lights of the clubs.I cant speak the language, I hate the food here and I miss my family, he told me as he swiped through each picture so quickly the faces blurred together, but Im not going home until I get a girlfriend.Theyre different from American women, my apartment mate explained when I asked him about the allure. Theyre more feminine and more submissive. Perfect wife material.Chinese women had evolved to mean sexy. I couldnt decide if that was better or worse. Really, it was just about the same as being a caricature, but now served with a side of submission and breasts.With all of that in mind, I read all the stories and watched interviews of Fu Yuanhui, expecting a celebrity swimmer who was polite and poster beautiful.The unexpected happened: I too fell in love. I, too, wanted Fu Yuanhui to be my best friend. She wasnt poster-pretty. She was something far better: She was human.When Fu Yuanhui heard shed come in third at the 100-meter backstroke finals at the Rio Olympics, she gasped for air, stuttered and then mangled her lanyard from the sheer joy of winning. Her bubbling, over-the-top delight with life was infectious. In the photographs, while other athletes posed for the camera, smiles frozen in place, she clutched her medal mouth open in a silent roar of happiness. She made faces, grinned maniacally.The moment I truly fell for her was during the womens 4x100-meter medley relay when she emerged from the pool doubled over in pain. Her period left her feeling weak, she told the reporter, and she didnt swim her best. Then, she apologized for her performance and moved on.Never mind the cultural taboo that exists around periods, particularly in China, where tampons are hard to come by. Never mind the cultural taboos about periods that exist around the world. Fu Yuanhui swam in pain; she felt like she underperformed; she apologized; and that was all simply all there was to it.Fu Yuanhui didnt give us pretty, she gave us joy so fierce you could feel its power blasting through the camera lens. She didnt give us pitch-perfect celebrity-speak molded to showcase her best self to the press. She gave us herself, her incandescent happiness, her earthly pain.She showed us its possible to be loved by the world for simply being yourself. And for this, we loved her, for this we continue to love her: Fu Yuanhui, champion swimmer, champion human.Shalene Gupta is currently working on a novel about growing up Chinese-Indian in Minnesota. A former Fortune reporter, with an M.S. from Columbia Journalism School, she is currently a freelance writer living in Boston. Follow her @ShaleneGupta Air Max 95 Mens Sale . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Wholesale Air Max 95 . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. http://www.wholesale95airmax.com/air-max-95-mens-sale.html . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. 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Tom Daley has leapt to the defence of the bizarre green Olympic diving pool that caused consternation during the final of the womens synchronised 10 metres platform final.Social media was overwhelmed by the sudden change of colour in the water at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre on Tuesday, with organisers suggesting the issue has been caused by a combination of factors which led to a chemical imbalance.However, Daley -- who won a bronze medal alongside Dan Goodfellow in the corresponding mens event on Monday -- has revealed that not only has he been assured the water is not harmful, it in fact helps him dive because it contrasts with the colour of the sky.The Briton told PA Sport: Weve been told the green water is completely safe.Its slightly strange to look at, with the water polo pool being crystal clear but the diving pool green. But it actually does make it easier for us to dive because normally, when youre spinning, its difficult to see which way is up when the sky and water are both blue.So when its green, it does make it slightly easier. Its nice and warm, too.Goodfelloow was equally unconcerned.dddddddddddd.Weve been told by the doctors its safe, so Im sure it wont affect any of the diving events, he said.Water is water, isnt it? So its not going to affect our dives. The main thing is it wont make us ill.Reflecting on Mondays bronze medal in Rio, Goodfellow admits their achievement is yet to really sink in.It was emotional on the night, as people could see from the photographs of us and the big bomb into the pool. We were over the moon and so happy with how it went.Our hard work paid off. Its a bit of a relief, too. But on the whole it hasnt quite sunk in yet.He added: Weve only been diving together since last October, whereas some of the other teams in the competition who have been medalling since 2012 and even before that.So considering weve only spent 10 months working together, winning a medal in every competition weve done is really good. Its a combination of good teamwork and support from those around us. ' ' '