Crammed on every available surface in Zhang Wenquan’s crowded Beijing home are Olympic memorabilia — from mascots and torches to flags, banners, clothes and cuddly toys.
The Chinese superfan scours the Internet for rare souvenirs and snaps selfies several times a week by the countdown clock to next month’s Winter Games in the capital.
Beijing is to become the first city to host the Summer and Winter Olympics — a dream come true for the construction firm worker.
Photo: AFP
Zhang’s interest was first piqued when he became glued to the 2000 Sydney Games as a high-school student.
“I saw China win many gold medals and felt inspired,” the 35-year-old said.
When the Games came to Beijing in 2008, he worked as an official volunteer — a life-changing experience that sparked his passion for collecting Olympic souvenirs.
Wearing a Beijing Winter Games scarf and sweatshirt emblazoned with its mascot — plus a headband reading: “Come on, Winter Olympics” — Zhang shows off the array of merchandise covering his home.
The house is so full of piles of boxes that he has been forced to sleep elsewhere.
He estimates that he has so far spent at least 400,000 yuan (US$62,943) on 5,000 souvenirs.
Zhang daily scours eBay for new listings, with the most expensive find being a US$1,900 torch from the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games.
He has row upon row of the mascot Bing Dwen Dwen for next month’s Winter Games — a panda wearing a shell made of ice — in various colors and sizes.
In 2008, Zhang helped with scoring at Beijing’s Wukesong Baseball Stadium — a photograph from the time shows a scrawny, bespectacled young man in a sky-blue Olympic jersey proudly holding a baseball bat aloft in an empty arena.
In his cluttered house, a framed certificate of participation hangs on the wall.
Zhang was intoxicated by the atmosphere in 2008, a time of extraordinary national pride.
China won 48 gold medals and displayed growing strength as a global power.
Zhang was not successful in the competitive selection process to be a volunteer this year, but hopes to obtain tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies — as well as his favorite sport, figure skating.
He currently makes frequent trips to Beijing’s Olympic sites.
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
Noah Lyles on Thursday warmed up for the upcoming athletics world championships by chasing down Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo to win the 200m at the Diamond League final. Lyles trailed Tebogo at the start, but gradually erased the deficit over the final 100m and pipped the Botswana sprinter to the line by centimeters. Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion and reigning world champion in both the 100m and 200m, clocked 19.74 seconds in a slight headwind. Tebogo was 0.02 seconds behind. It was Lyles’ sixth Diamond League title, a record for track athletes. “Six, that’s a big number,” Lyles said. “Shoot, that’s another record on
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Brentford striker Yoane Wissa says he wants to leave the English Premier League club and that it is “unduly standing in my way.” A day before the end of soccer’s summer transfer period, Wissa posted a lengthy statement on social media yesterday criticizing Brentford for rejecting an apparent offer from another Premier League club despite his willingness to switch between the teams. Wissa, a reported target for Newcastle, is yet to play for Brentford this season and had already removed any association with the club from his Instagram account. Yesterday, the 28-year-old DR Congo international took it a step further on the social
RSS