Sim stole the show with his three-second appearance at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony last week. — Pictures via Instagram/welsonsim and YouTube/Astro Arena
PETALING JAYA (July 27): Malaysian Olympic swimmer Welson Sim Wee Sheng set hearts fluttering on social media after his brief TV appearance at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.
Sim, 24, was filmed walking with the Malaysian contingent at the Japan National Stadium clad in a Hang Tuah-inspired costume and a face mask.
Despite appearing in a close-up shot for just three seconds, Sim’s boyish good looks won over Malaysians who took to Twitter to share screenshots of the dashing athlete.
Several users gushed over his “handsome” visage, with many saying he was attractive enough to rival Korean celebrity heartthrobs.
Twitter user @scrltbbh even compared Sim to K-pop idol D.O. from the boyband Exo.
HANDSOME AH BANG pic.twitter.com/jnoAfim12u
— azra (@BAMSWF) July 23, 2021
Welson sim pon handsome https://t.co/RUcGfNo6C8
— 나지하 (@najihahzaidy_) July 23, 2021
No wonder welson sim is trending. Look at him pic.twitter.com/dbDYYIj3kV
— ika (@mi_eika) July 23, 2021
rata² masa opening semalam, Malaysians are proud of the outfit and fall in love with Welson Sim https://t.co/GmGfGTBRF9
— 지훈이요 (@yeolotwiit) July 24, 2021
Sim’s popularity also went international with one Thai Twitter user reposting an old photo of Sim with the Malaysian swimming team from the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
The post got over 18,000 retweets with several Thai people asking if they could “trade” Thai male celebrities in exchange for the Malaysian swimmers.
The quote rt and replies are so cute hahaha they wanna trade
aquatic team usually quite good looking, Welson Sim a cutie & Leong Mun Yee pretty, there was a handsome diver I can’t remember his name back then https://t.co/bdwUlHqPr8
— ƒαrαн (@twinkyxstar) July 25, 2021
Social media users in China were equally lovestruck by Sim, with one Weibo post featuring photos of the Kuching-born sportsman racking up more than 9,000 likes.
Sim’s Chinese fans already have an affectionate moniker for him, calling him “Malaysia’s Flying Fish Prince.”
Not even a face mask could conceal Sim’s good looks from Chinese social media users. — Screengrab via Weibo
Sim participated in the men’s 200m and 400m freestyle races over the weekend but fell short of qualifying for the finals in either category. – Malay Mail