Chinese table tennis sensation and Olympic champion Sun Yingsha was thrilled when she took the oath as one of the athletes' representatives at the 19th Asian Games opening ceremony in east China's Hangzhou City on September 23.

"I am proud to have been born in such a great country and to have grown up in the best of times," said the table tennis star born in 2000. "We should vigorously promote the Olympic spirit and Chinese sportsmanship in the Games and contribute youth and strength to the motherland and the people."

Supporting Sun's unwavering spirit, a Chinese internet user encouraged her to do her best and strive for her dream and China. The internet user's comment got thousands of other netizens' likes.

In recent years, more and more Chinese netizens have interacted with Chinese athletes on varied Chinese social media platforms, as most of the athletes have grown up in an age characterized by thriving social media.

Zhang Weili posted a video of herself wearing the national flag on China's X-like Sina Weibo in celebration of retaining her UFC Strawweight World title at UFC 292 in Boston, Massachusetts, in August. "The gold belt has been brought back to China; thank you all for your support," she wrote on Weibo.

The video has 10.19 million views and more than 217,000 likes. Chinese internet users expressed their sincere support for Zhang, saying the championship belt is not only Zhang's glory but also that of the Chinese people.

Online interactions like this have not only helped narrow the distance between elusive athletes and ordinary Chinese people but have also boosted ordinary Chinese people's national pride and encouraged them to work hard to realize their dreams.

Seeing the hard training the athletes persist on in the videos the athletes posted on social media platforms and empathizing with the athletes' happiness of winning golden medals, many Chinese internet users agreed that on the one hand, they are proud to be Chinese as there are so many superb Chinese athletes, and on the other hand, they have to work hard to achieve their goals like what the athletes did.

What's more, the athletes' sweat after hard training and tears after failure in games have let ordinary Chinese citizens get a deeper understanding of the athletes striving to win honors for the country.

Chinese gymnast Xiao Ruoteng lost out to Japan's Daiki Hashimoto during the men's gymnastics all-around at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. "Still, we are proud of Xiao Ruoteng, who showed his incredible strength and power," said Yang Wei, the all-around champion at the 2008 Beijing Games, on Sina Weibo.

And other Weibo users also showed their support for Xiao. "Don't be discouraged; we are proud of you, China is proud of you," said one comment.