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Why bronze medalists can be the happiest people on the podium.

Have you heard about Fu Yuanhui yet? She's basically breaking the internet.

Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images.

On Aug. 8, 2016, Fu represented China in the women's Olympic 100-meter backstroke semifinal. It was a close race, and she finished in just 58.95 seconds. And when she heard that time, she basically exploded into smiles.


"Whoooaah! I was so fast!," said Fu, according to The Guardian. "I didn't hold back... I used all of my mystic energy!"

That time earned her third place — a bronze medal — although she didn't realize this until a reporter told her.

"What?!" said Fu. "I came in third? I didn't know!"

Fu's glee at getting third place spread like wildfire, quickly becoming an the subject of hundreds of memes. People loved her and her reaction. (Not to mention how she continued to be awesome in the following days, like when she challenged taboos.)

But contained in all that joy might be an interesting lesson about how we think about our achievements.

Consider this interesting tidbit: A study from 1995 asked people to rate how happy Olympic athletes appeared at the end of their events and during awards ceremonies.

A medal ceremony in the Rio Olympics. Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images.

Though you'd think happiness would rise with placement, the results of the study told another story. Although bronze comes below silver in the "rankings," people who got bronze medals at the Olympics were ranked as happier overall compared with silver medalists.

It turns out that the bronze medalists, like Fu, were happy to just get a medal.

The silver medalists, however, couldn't help but compare themselves to the gold medalists. That's what the researchers thought, anyway. Other researchers have suggested it was because the silver medalists had much stricter expectations.

Later analyses in the 2004 Athens Olympics seemed to reaffirm the happy-bronze/sad-silver dichotomy.

Basically, Fu teaches us that how we frame our achievements can change how we feel about them.

Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images.

Fu and other bronze medalists like runners Jenny Simpson and Andre De Grasse show us something important. How we think about a win might be more important than winning itself.

Though she mentioned the competition, she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she seemed to be focused on her own journey:

"I want to go back in time, to when I almost gave up, to tell myself that all of the hardship is worth it," she said."Even though I didn't win first place today, I've already surpassed myself, and I am happy with that."

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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Pop Culture

Woman was mocked online for calling an $80 purse a 'luxury item.' Her response went viral.

"I'm so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money.”

@zohtaco/TikTok

Zoe Gabriel, showing off her new purse from Charles & Keith

Insults of any kind are painful, but jabs towards someone’s financial status are their own breed.

In January 2023, Singapore-based Zoe Gabriel was on the receiving end of this particular flavor of mockery when she posted a TikTok about a purse from local retail brand Charles & Keith—a gift bought for her by her father.

In her excitement, the 17-year-old called the bag, which costs around $80, a “luxury” item as she unwrapped it. Her excitement was sadly cut short by some of the negative comments she received.

One comment seemed to stand out above the rest and prompted Gabriel to post an emotional response video.

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A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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Pop Culture

RuPaul's Drag Race 'Footloose' parody gets high praise from Kevin Bacon himself

When the OG Ren McCormack approves, you know you're in for something good.

RuPaul's Drag Race/Youtube, Wikipedia

Loosey LaDuca performing as Heaven Bacon for "Wigloose: A Rusical"

Fans of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” are well acquainted with the “Rusical” segment, but in case this word seems like something out of Dr. Seuss, here’s a brief explainer: A Rusical is a challenge on the show where contestants put on a live parody drag musical. Since debuting in Season 6, the Rusical has become a beloved staple of the series, with some of the most popular titles being “Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical,” “HERstory of the World” and “Moulin Ru: The Rusical.”

For Episode 12, the queens drew inspiration from the 1984 movie “Footloose” to tell a story about a small town that prohibits drag rather than dancing. The performance got a sweet seal of approval from the OG Ren McCormack himself.
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Health

Amanda Bynes is on a 72-hour hold: What that means and why fans are applauding her

"The fact that Amanda Bynes flagged a car down, told them she was having a psychotic episode and called 911 herself actually gives me a lot of hope for her well-being."

Amanda Bynes is on a 72-hour hold.

It's not a secret that celebrities are just like everyone else and sometimes struggle with mental health concerns. Amanda Bynes is no exception, and she has been quite open about her mental health struggles over the years. In 2013, Bynes was placed under conservatorship after a few mental health crises that put herself and others in danger.

Since the conservatorship was ended in 2021, Bynes has remained essentially out of public view and was scheduled to appear with her "All That" cast members at 90s Con. But recently, Bynes went in for a 72-hour psychiatric hold after experiencing a psychotic episode that led her to walking around downtown Los Angeles without any clothing. During a moment of clarity, the 36-year-old actress flagged down a car and called 911.

While walking around a busy city naked can certainly qualify as risk of harm to oneself, Bynes' actions after regaining a sense of reality are important. There are two types of psychiatric holds: voluntary and involuntary. Clearly, a voluntary hold is more desirable and shows promise for marked improvement because you're the one recognizing the need for psychiatric care. Bynes making the phone call herself shows that she knew, in that moment, her behavior was unsafe and she needed help.

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Family

Dad had no idea he was auditioning for 'Britain's Got Talent.' He brought the house down anyway.

His two little girls called him up on stage to perform the song he wrote for them.

Nick Edwards had no idea he was going to be singing for Britain's Got Talent until his mom and daughters showed up on stage.

We've seen some moving America's Got Talent stories before, but a recent viral audition absolutely requires a tissue warning. I tried to steel myself in preparation when I saw the "Admit it, we were *all* in tears after this" caption on the Facebook share of it, but I failed.

In a video that's been shared more than 95,000 times, the "Britain's Got Talent" audition shows two tiny little girls onstage with their grandmother. They introduce themselves as "Cally" (age 4) and "Savannah" (age 3) and "Nanny" (their "daddy's mummy") then the girls share that they are there to surprise their dad.

Dad—also known as Nick Edwards—is sitting in the audience. He thought the family was there to watch the audition on a fun outing; he had no idea that they had arranged a surprise audition for him, so when his girls and mom showed up on stage, he wondered what was going on.

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