After China's Deng Yawen won the Cycling BMX Freestyle Women's Park final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Wednesday,  she wore a white Chinese hairpin while standing on the podium. The cloud pattern hairpin quickly became a hit, selling out on major platforms. 

She said it was the same pin she wore the day before winning her first world championship, and it has since become her lucky charm.

"I don't know how it ended up in my luggage today, but this coincidence made me decide to wear it. It's very Chinese and suitable for the Olympics," Deng said.

Deng, a young talent from Southwest China's Sichuan Province, recalled that as a child, her grandmother's radio constantly played Beijing Welcomes You, and it was from that moment that the seed of the "Olympics" was planted in her heart.

From joining the national team to competing in the Olympics, Deng Yawen has achieved her Olympic dream in just two years. Perhaps even Deng herself didn't expect to reach this milestone so quickly.

Freestyle BMX is a relatively new Olympic event, having been officially included in the Olympic program only for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Like many Chinese athletes in the sport, Deng Yawen did not start practicing freestyle BMX from a young age.

Growing up with her grandparents, Deng began training in track and field at a local sports school at the age of 8, which provided her with a strong  physical condition.

In 2017, as freestyle BMX became an official event for the Tokyo Olympics, BMX coaches who were scouting for talent extended invitations.

"This is the first time that freestyle BMX has participated in the Olympics in China's history. It is very precious for the athletes, and we will make the most of it," said Wu Dan, a freestyle BMX coach from Sichuan, in an interview before the event.

After beginning professional freestyle BMX training, Deng was the youngest in her team. "At that time, freestyle BMX was just starting to develop in China. Our senior athletes guided me, and even when I cry after falling, I would still get up and continue," Deng recalled.

"She might have fallen 50 times a day during training, or even 60 or 70 times, but she would always get up and keep practicing," Deng's coach noted.

Today, after countless falls and recoveries, Deng wears her scars as her proudest badges of honor.