Swimmer Fu Yuanhui has won plaudits for breaking one of the taboos of sport and of her native China by daring to talk about her period affecting her athletic performance.

After the Chinese swimming team missed a medal opportunity in the 4x100m medley relay in Rio at the weekend, Fu conceded in a post-race interview that she was under par because she had her period.

“It’s because I just got my period yesterday, so I’m still a bit weak and really tired,” Fu said in the interview.

“But this isn’t an excuse for not swimming well.”

Menstruation is considered one of sport’s taboos, and so Fu’s mention of it at the Olympics is being seen as a huge moment in women’s sport.

At last year’s Australian Open tennis tournament, British player Heather Watson referred to her own period when she lost, igniting support from other female athletes, including retired tennis player Annabel Croft.

“It was one of those things that was all hushed up,” Croft told The Guardian at the time.

“I remember being on court feeling dizzy, disorientated, tearful, then coming off court, going into the locker room, and finding my period had started – and realising, ah, that’s why I was all over the place.”

Boston’s Globe and Mail reports that many female athletes have argued that the taboo around menstruation in sport leaves some not knowing how to deal with the more severe symptoms during competition, especially since many painkillers are banned.

British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe has called for more studies on the impact of the menstrual cycle on women’s performance in sport, as well as better medical support for athletes competing while on their periods, the paper adds.

A BBC report also noted that talk of menstruation in China was still very much taboo, and despite the country’s massive leaps in technology and manufacturing, it still didn’t have a domestic manufacturer of women’s sanitary products.