The former gymnastics world champion found eking out a living performing on the streets in Beijing has opened his first bank account to accept donations from the public.
But the help given to Zhang Shangwu has led to debate over whether the public should be expected to help out retired athletes fallen on hard times.
Zhang was seen performing gymnastics stunts at Beijing's Wangfujing Metro station in pictures posted on microblogging site Weibo.com by a netizen identified as "Langfeng" last week.
Langfeng accompanied Zhang to open his first bank account on Sunday in order to accept a 5,000 yuan (US$773) donation from an unidentified web user, after his plight of poverty, injury and unemploy-ment was made public.
Langfeng published Zhang's bank details online and said people could donate money to him directly.
This sparked controversy, with some microbloggers arguing Zhang should earn a living for himself rather than relying on donations, while others suspected Langfeng was Zhang's agent.
Langfeng denied he was representing Zhang, saying he saw him performing and that they became friends.
Zhang, a Hebei Province native, won two gold medals at the 2001 Summer Universiade in Beijing while 18.
But injury forced his retirement in 2003, and Zhang was jailed twice for theft in 2007.
"He changed after he gained fame and money," Zhang's mother, Shi Huifang, told The Beijing News yesterday.
Zhang had to quit the national gymnastics team after he suffered a ruptured tendon, and was sent back to the provincial gymnastics team.
There, Zhang claimed his coach did not make allowance for his injury and he retired.
However, an unnamed staff member of the provincial team said Zhang often skipped training and took teammates' mobiles phones.
The Hebei Sports Bureau and many organizations have offered jobs to Zhang since the microblogging campaign put his plight in the spotlight.
The Chinese Gymnastics Association said Monday that in 2005 it gave Zhang the choice of being subject to its arrangements or finding a job on his own after retirement.
Zhang chose the latter and received 63,220 yuan in support from the association.
But the help given to Zhang Shangwu has led to debate over whether the public should be expected to help out retired athletes fallen on hard times.
Zhang was seen performing gymnastics stunts at Beijing's Wangfujing Metro station in pictures posted on microblogging site Weibo.com by a netizen identified as "Langfeng" last week.
Langfeng accompanied Zhang to open his first bank account on Sunday in order to accept a 5,000 yuan (US$773) donation from an unidentified web user, after his plight of poverty, injury and unemploy-ment was made public.
Langfeng published Zhang's bank details online and said people could donate money to him directly.
This sparked controversy, with some microbloggers arguing Zhang should earn a living for himself rather than relying on donations, while others suspected Langfeng was Zhang's agent.
Langfeng denied he was representing Zhang, saying he saw him performing and that they became friends.
Zhang, a Hebei Province native, won two gold medals at the 2001 Summer Universiade in Beijing while 18.
But injury forced his retirement in 2003, and Zhang was jailed twice for theft in 2007.
Zhang had to quit the national gymnastics team after he suffered a ruptured tendon, and was sent back to the provincial gymnastics team.
There, Zhang claimed his coach did not make allowance for his injury and he retired.
However, an unnamed staff member of the provincial team said Zhang often skipped training and took teammates' mobiles phones.
The Hebei Sports Bureau and many organizations have offered jobs to Zhang since the microblogging campaign put his plight in the spotlight.
The Chinese Gymnastics Association said Monday that in 2005 it gave Zhang the choice of being subject to its arrangements or finding a job on his own after retirement.
Zhang chose the latter and received 63,220 yuan in support from the association.
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