Fly High, Frog Princess! Well Done, Chen No. 3!

The world’s most popular Olympians are household names. But to Chinese fans who delight in creating nicknames, they’re different characters entirely.

BEIJING — While sports fans worldwide marvel at the aerial contortions of the skier Eileen Gu, many in China are professing their admiration for one “Frog Princess.”

Americans who watched Nathan Chen spin his way to a gold medal may be confused to see Chinese figure skating aficionados refer knowingly to someone named “Chen No. 3.”

And although the name of the Russian figure skating star Anna Shcherbakova can be a mouthful for some of her Chinese-speaking fans, a sobriquet that translates to “Daughter of a Wealthy Family” rolls far more easily off their tongues.