On March 8th, former world champion gymnast Wu Liufang, who tried coaching and other jobs after retiring from gymnastics, found that her monthly salary of several thousand yuan was like a drop in the bucket in the face of reality. Recently, she revealed that her mother underwent a major surgery and her father took out a loan of 400,000 yuan (RMB). With the burden of supporting her family, repaying debts, and covering her brother’s tuition fees, she even considered working in nightclubs as a dancer at one point.
In an interview with “Phoenix Weekly” on March 8th, former world champion gymnast Wu Liufang responded for the first time to the controversy surrounding her in 2024. She admitted that at the time, her mother was seriously ill, and the family was burdened with a debt of 400,000 yuan. As the eldest daughter, she was responsible for supporting the family, repaying debts, and paying for her brother’s education.
At that time, she couldn’t think of any other ways to earn money, even considering working in nightclubs as a dancer because that was the “fastest way to make money” within her knowledge. In the end, she chose the lowest-cost option of self-media, using just a mobile phone and a camisole and shorts worth less than 50 yuan, which became her last “lifeline.”
In November 2024, Wu Liufang gained popularity online with a dance short video combining some rhythmic gymnastics moves, and her number of fans surged from 40,000 to over 6 million. However, she was labeled with terms like “controversial” and “damaging the image of athletes.”
On November 24th, Wu Liufang’s account on the social platform Douyin was set to prohibit following, with a notice stating, “This user is prohibited from being followed for violating community guidelines.”
In early December 2024, an article on WeChat public account Ni Ren titled “Wu Liufang Is Not Sick; This Society Is” mentioned her achievements in sports and sacrifices for the country, including injuries during competitions that almost left her paralyzed before retiring.
As of March this year, Wu Liufang has repaid the 400,000 yuan debt at home with income from live streaming product sales. She has transitioned to creating traditional Chinese-style content, promoting intangible cultural heritage dances in Hanfu, and her fan base has risen to nearly 900,000 followers.
In response to these developments, netizens left messages on Wu Liufang’s Weibo account to cheer her on, saying things like “Keep it up, your heart is purer than theirs!” and “Training in gymnastics from a young age is really hard.” They praised her for her efforts and wished her success in supporting her family in a legitimate and honorable way.
Public records show that Wu Liufang was born on December 22, 1994, in Liuzhou City, Guangxi, China. Her specialties in gymnastics were the uneven bars and balance beam. In 2012, she suffered a cervical spine injury during the national gymnastics championship and retired in 2013.