“Maybe I was not lucky today.”

Teammate Shi Jinglin, who won bronze in 200m breaststroke, said her teammates have tried their very best.

“I have no regrets. Everyone has done their very best. But I am disappointed with myself,” she said. “It has been an honour to swim with the best swimmers in the world here.”

The US clinched gold with a time of 3:53.14. Australia won silver, clocking 3:55.00 while Denmark came in third with a time of 3:55.01.

China were just a further 17 hundredths of a second back.

Fu became China’s latest Olympic sweetheart with her funny remarks and even funnier facial expressions, which have prompted Chinese netizens to produce a string of amusing memes.

After she emerged from the pool following her 100m backstroke final, Fu was asked how she was feeling by the state-run Central Television network.

“The thing that I would like to share most is that, although I didn’t win a medal ...”she began, before being told by the CCTV reporter that she had in fact won bronze.

“What?!” exclaimed Fu. “I came in third? I didn’t know!”

She suggested the reason she did not win silver was because her arms were “too short”.

Meanwhile, USA’s Dana Vollmer was over the moon after winning gold in 4x100 medley relay.

“That’s just so incredibly amazing and it really makes me think about all the generations of Olympic teams and athletes that I’ve watched, and inspiration that I’ve had. I remember watching my first team in 1996 and seeing Kerri (Strug) in gymnastics and just understanding the dedication and the grit when she stood up to do that second vault,” she said.

“I just remember knowing that I wanted to do that and to represent that and we’re here getting that 1,000th medal for the US. It’s just absolutely incredible.”

WATCH: relive the action involving Hong Kong athletes on Day 8 at the Rio Olympics