Gymnast's reaction to rivals biting their Olympic medals is warming people's hearts

People online have been left touched by a video of an artistic gymnast's reaction to her rivals on the podium.

Zhou Yaqin from China took to the podium alongside her fellow Olympic medallists after claiming silver for her performance on the balance beam.

Yaqin, who is just 18-years-old, took the silver with a score of 14.100, while Italy's Alice D'Amato took the gold with 14.366 and her teammate Manila Esposito took the bronze.

The result came after a shock loss for the US' Simone Biles fell off the beam during her routine, meaning she was denied an eighth gold medal.

D'Amato and Esposito had been posing together for the cameras, doing the now common tradition of biting their medals.

But it seemed that the practice caught Yaqin by surprise, as she glanced over and did a double take on her fellow medallists.

In an adorable moment, the silver medallist then hastily brought her own medal up to her mouth to join in.

Zhou Yaqin noticed her fellow medallists biting their medals. (BBC)

The three medallists then all took a selfie together.

Eurosport’s commentator observed: "Zhou Yaqin looked like she wasn’t sure what was happening there!

"A really worthy silver medal. I know she made that mistake but her difficulty and her style and class on the balance beam.

"I’m really pleased to see her with her silver."

The 18-year-old's moment on the podium saw her win the hearts of many viewers who were touched by her reaction.

Many took to social media to share their thoughts.

One wrote: "i love her!!! she made sure she hugged EVERYONE after they came down from their beam routines, what a sweetheart."

A second posted: "This is the most endearing and cute thing I’ve ever seen. I love her."

The gymnast quickly also brought her own medal up to her mouth. (BBC)

A third said: "One of my fav videos from the olympics", while a fourth wrote simply: "cutest."

It's not clear exactly where the practice of biting medals has come from in recent Olympic history.

David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told CNN: "It’s become an obsession with the photographers.

"I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I don’t think it’s something the athletes would probably do on their own."

Biting is a reference to an historic practice of biting a gold coin to see if it was genuine or had been cut with something.

As gold is a very malleable metal, a genuine coin would have teeth marks in it, while a fake wouldn't.