Snowboarder expresses joy over kindness

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

On Saturday, US snowboarder Tessa Maud uploaded a video on TikTok documenting her entry into the National Stadium with the US delegation on Friday night. In the video, she captured a male volunteer in a pink shirt waving his hands at her excitedly and shouting "welcome to China".

In another video, she shared her feelings toward the ceremony, saying 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 garnered hundreds of thousands of views, 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 a letter 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 COVID-19 pandemic is over. "I can be your tour guide and tell you 'welcome to China' again without a face mask," he wrote.

On Sunday, Maud released another video after receiving the letter, saying she was "so beyond thankful" for Sun and other new friends who have been so loving and welcoming.

The interactions have touched the hearts of many netizens, and Sun said he had received many messages of love and support over the past few days.

He said that although all the volunteers had spent months training for the opening ceremony, the passion and enthusiasm that poured out when athletes from around the world entered the stadium were not rehearsed.

"We were still waving to the audience and athletes when we got off the stage," he said. "That was the longest-lasting jumping we had done, but it was also the most exciting."

He said that during the ceremony, Maud was filming the whole time with her smartphone and kept shouting ni hao－h(huán)ello in Mandarin－to volunteers, so Sun thought he should say something back in English.

Around 300 young volunteers welcomed the delegations that night. After the opening ceremony ended, they played back the ceremony video over and over again, trying to spot themselves in the official footage.

"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, so I thought I had to reply to her by letter.

"This very natural, simple kindness between people is really the most wonderful thing ever. This kindness is also what the Olympics should convey to us, to be open, inclusive and more united."

Sun said he had obtained Maud's personal email address, which was even more special to him than adding each other as instant messaging contacts.

"It will feel like writing a letter to a friend across the ocean," he said. "She really is a memorable friend that I made during a memorable experience."

Maud competed in the snowboarding halfpipe qualifying round on Wednesday, finishing 16th and missing out on a place in the final.