Once about a decade ago I was asked by a former Olympic gold medalist to help her prepare a speech in front of a group of successful businesspeople in Beijing.

I had known her from the time when she dominated the diving pool until she quit and founded a training school for young children. I suggested she talk about her competitive spirit, determination and other traits that could be found in an MBA class on leadership.

But she turned down my draft, saying "it was not me." Instead, she would focus on the human side of her sport career and how she had always wanted to live like a normal person.

We all knew how hard it was to emerge as an Olympic hero from the grueling national sports program that trains hundreds of thousands of youngsters every year. Ordinary folks looked up to them as role models and drew inspiration from their achievements through personal sacrifices.

Perhaps I just forgot the erstwhile poster girl had retired and she could say whatever she wanted to say now, I thought.

Despite the experience, it still felt like a different world, as I woke up one morning last week and found the discourse about the Rio Olympic Games on my cellphone was centering on one goofy, hilarious Chinese swimmer who talked about her competition on national television, like she was confiding in her mom.

"Only ghosts knew what I went through," said bronze medalist Fu Yuanhui about her training routines before the Games. "Sometimes, I thought I was going to die; training then was a life worse than death."

Later, the 20-year-old blamed her period for her missing out on a medal in another match.

I've suspected if it was a shot at amassing eyeballs to boost her market value. But the Chinese public seems to be forgiving even if that was the case. After the interviews, the number of her followers on Chinese social media has jumped from 56,000 to more than 5 million.

Each of her posts draws thousands of comments, which puts her in the league of the most popular and valuable internet celebrities. Her bubbly remarks accompanied by exaggerated and girlish grimaces, contrast with those of top athletes in old times, who thanked their coaches and the nation when they won, and apologized when they lost.

Perhaps an Olympic medal isn't as a big deal as before. Audiences who cheered for Olympic golds now also want to see sports stars and their performances to be genuine, through honest work and true selves.

The heyday of the State-sponsored sports appears to be over, with more children from middle-class families, like Fu, seeking the joy of effort and wanting to have some fun.

Even my Olympic champion friend marvels at the tectonic change of attitude. "Haven't we all longed to have her kind of heartfelt happiness and the unbridled freedom to be herself?" she mused about the new sensation on WeChat.

Contact the writer at yuanzhou@chinadaily.com.cn