Competing in the Olympics is stressful at the best of times - but imagine doing so while having your period。
参加奥运比赛，即使在最佳状态下，也会压力山大——可若是处在生理期呢？
Fu Yuanhui， one of China’s swimming stars， became an overnight social media sensation thanks to her frank post-race interviews and exaggerated expressions。
因赛后采访中的耿直言论和夸张表情，中国游泳队小将傅园慧迅速走红社交媒体。
Now， she’s become a talking point online again - for breaking a sporting taboo by talking about her period。
现在，她再次引爆网络话题——打破体坛禁忌，谈论自己的生理期。
China missed out on a medal in the women’s 4x100m medley relay on Sunday， coming fourth。
周日的女子4x100米混合泳接力赛，中国队获得第四名，未能登上领奖台。
After the match， team-mates Lu Ying， Shi Jinglin and Zhu Menghui were interviewed by a reporter - but Fu was initially nowhere to be found。
赛后，队员陆滢、史婧琳和朱梦慧接受了采访，而傅园慧则不见踪影。
It turns out she was crouched behind a board， doubled over in pain。
后来发现，她蹲在广告牌后痛苦地蜷缩着。
When the journalist asked her （in Chinese） if she was OK， Fu said： “I didn’t swim well enough this time，” and apologised to her team-mates。
记者问她还好吗，傅园慧说：“这次没有游好。”还向队友表示歉意。
“It’s because my period came yesterday， so I felt particularly tired - but this isn’t a reason， I still didn’t swim well enough。”
“我昨天来例假了，所以感觉特别累。但这也不是理由，还是自己没游好。”
It was a poignant moment for many Chinese viewers， who took to social media to express their support for her。
许多中国网友深受触动，纷纷在社交媒体上表达了对她的支持。
“I really admire Fu Yuanhui， for swimming while she was on her period - women can be affected during their periods， especially with period pain。。。 she felt guilty for coming fourth， but Fu Yuanhui we’re still very proud of you，” user TAO wrote on Sina Weibo。
新浪微博用户TAO表示：“我真的很敬佩傅园慧生理期还去比赛游泳。女性会受到生理期的影响，尤其是痛经的话……中国队拿了第四，她很内疚。但是傅园慧，我们依然为你骄傲。”
Tampons are relatively unknown in China
在中国，卫生棉条少有人知
It’s also sparked a discussion about tampons - which are not widely used in China。
关于卫生棉条的讨论也由此引爆。卫生棉条在中国并未得到广泛使用。
According to one industry survey， only 2% of women in China use tampons -compared to 42% of US women。
一项业内调查显示，只有2%的中国女性使用卫生棉条，而美国女性的使用比例是42%。
Many women weren’t familiar with how to use them， or had not heard of them before， the survey by Cotton Inc said。
美国棉花公司的调查称，许多女性不熟悉卫生棉条的使用方法，甚至从未听说过。
“Someone accused Fu of lying， asking how she could have gone in the water on her period，” weibo user Dvingnew wrote。 “Chinese people have prejudices about tampons - women in their 30s around me are ignorant about tampons， and full of fear about tampons。”
微博用户Dvingnew说：“有人指责傅园慧撒谎，问她生理期怎么下水。中国人对卫生棉条怀有偏见。我作为一个三十多岁的女性，直到现在也对它一无所知，心存畏惧。”
And there may also be cultural factors at play too - some Chinese women have been told to avoid using tampons because it could stop them from being virgins， despite health experts pointing out that the two things are unrelated。
这可能也有文化因素的作用——一些中国女性被告知不要使用卫生棉条，因为那会破坏处女膜。而健康专家指出，两者并没有什么关系。
One poster defending tampons wrote： “Who told you virgins can’t use tampons？。。。Come on， it’s the 21st Century。”
支持使用棉条一方的帖子写道：“谁跟你说处女不可以用棉条的？拜托，这都21世纪了。”
According to reports， China’s first domestic tampon brand may be launched soon - which may encourage more women to swim while on their periods。
据报道，中国首家本土卫生棉条品牌很快就要成立，这或许能鼓励更多女性在生理期游泳。
So can menstrual cycles affect sporting performance？
那么，生理期会影响运动表现吗？
The subject of competing while menstruating is “definitely a taboo”， Georgie Bruinvels， a sports scientist， tells the BBC。
运动学专家乔吉。布鲁威尔斯告诉BBC，生理期参与比赛这个话题是“绝对的禁忌”。
“A lot of [elite] sport coaches are men， and that makes it harder for women， who don’t want to say ’I’m on my menstrual cycle’。
“许多（杰出的）体育教练都是男性。因此，对于不愿说自己来例假的女性，其处境变得更为艰难。”
“We need incidents like this to raise the issue” and encourage more research， she says。
她表示，“我们需要类似的事件来引发这一话题”并且鼓励更多的研究。
Ms Bruinvels surveyed over 1，800 sportswomen as part of her work as a researcher at the Female Athlete Health Group - a collaborative project between St Mary’s University and University College London。
布鲁威尔斯作为女性运动员健康研究组的成员，对1800名女运动员进行了调查。该研究组是圣玛丽大学和伦敦大学学院的合作项目。
“More than half the sportswomen I surveyed said they felt their menstrual cycle affected their performance。”
“调查中，超过一半的女运动员认为生理期影响了她们的表现。”
While there is not enough research into the impact of periods on sport， Ms Bruinvels says， one potential factor she was researching was iron deficiency。
但布鲁威尔斯称，生理期对体育运动的影响尚未得到充分研究，她在探索的一个可能因素是铁的缺乏。
“Menstruation is the leading cause of iron deficiency in the developed world， but many women are not aware they have it。
“在发达国家，生理期是缺铁的主要原因，但许多女性并不清楚这一点。”
“There could be an impact on the amount of time you can exercise， and the maximum amount of oxygen” an athlete can use， and she recommends that sportswomen who feel they’ve been affected get their iron levels tested。
“运动时间长短，还有运动员可消耗的最大氧气量都可能受到缺铁的影响”。她建议认为自己受了影响的女运动员去检查一下身体的铁含量。
