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Netizen: "He is Liu Xiang"

It's another Olympic season, and some veteran athletes have quietly become popular again. On August 12, Liu Xiang's personal account "I am Liu Xiang" on the social platform had more than 370,000 fans. At this time, he has cooperation with Bawang Chaji, Nike, Yili, Ping An Insurance, and JD.com, and has more appeal than many active athletes. Among them, Bawang Chaji, Yili, Ping An Insurance, and JD.com are recent additions. According to media reports, it is not difficult to see that Liu Xiang's business performance has a bit of "popularity".

Today, Liu Xiang's specific cooperation brands include Cadillac, Amway Nutrilite, Coca-Cola, Baisha Culture, Shanshan Men's Wear, Qianlima Automobile, Bank of Communications, Lenovo, Aokang, China Post EMS, China Mobile, Nike, Yili and other 14 companies.

Starting from 2004, his personal income exceeded 20 million RMB, and it has been rising every year since then, reaching 130 million RMB in 2007 and 160 million RMB at its peak. After a small loss due to the withdrawal incident in 2008, his comeback in 2012 made his value soar again, and he once held endorsement cooperation worth 1 billion RMB.

It was also reported that in the men's 110-meter hurdles final of the Paris Olympics held in the early morning of August 9th Beijing time, American athlete Holloway won the championship with a score of 12.99 seconds, but still failed to break the record of 12.91 seconds set by Liu Xiang in the Athens Olympics.

Under the related topic, many netizens commented, "He deserves it" and "He is Liu Xiang."

Another netizen commented, "In fact, we all owe Liu Xiang something, even if it's just a simple sentence like 'Liu Xiang, you've worked hard!'"

According to China News Service, Liu Xiang's entry into the social platform had already sparked heated discussions among netizens. According to reports, Liu Xiang posted a video on the social platform saying that he would share his daily life with everyone. Under this video, there was a comment that stood out. The netizen claimed that he owned one-eighth of Liu Xiang's pants. This seemingly outrageous comment actually received a reply from Liu Xiang himself - "Hello, one-eighth." Some people recalled that they had indeed seen the news about "one-eighth".

Later, the "one-eighth" netizen recounted the story. The 2009 National Games were held in Jinan, Shandong. After Liu Xiang won the championship, he took off his competition uniform and threw it to the stands, and then took off his pants and threw them to the audience. When the netizen was lucky enough to grab the pants, seven other people also grabbed them, and none of them wanted to let go. In the end, the "lucky pants" were cut open with a key and distributed to the eight people who grabbed them. The netizen said that he still treasures the one-eighth pants. Behind this seemingly outrageous story is everyone's love for Liu Xiang.

In addition, many netizens mentioned their memories of Liu Xiang. Many people could recite the sports commentary of the game by heart. The comment area instantly became full of voices. One netizen said that he had quarreled with his father because of Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang himself replied: "Call me next time." Some people said that they would put Liu Xiang's poster on the wall to motivate themselves. Others said that they had written about Liu Xiang in their essays and speeches.

In fact, although it has been 20 years since Liu Xiang won the Olympic gold medal, the commercial value that rose rapidly due to the Olympics at that time is still unabated today. Not only Liu Xiang, but many top retired athletes have also reaped great rewards in this Olympic year. Since the beginning of this year, diving queen Guo Jingjing has been endorsed by brands such as Yuexianhuo, Quanmianshidai, and KFC, former international player Fan Zhiyi has reached a commercial cooperation with Skechers, and Xu Xin, who has not been active in international competitions for a long time, has also won endorsements from brands such as Six Walnuts and Subway.

"During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Wang Meng's commentary on Migu attracted a lot of attention, and people began to realize that retired athletes are also valuable. Some of them have distinct characteristics and their personal influence remains undiminished. For brands, choosing them may be more certain than betting on rookies. For example, Fan Zhiyi successfully crossed over from the sports circle to the entertainment industry, and at the same time demonstrated professionalism in sports broadcasting." Zhang Zizhu, partner of Beijing Xinle Brand Planning Co., Ltd., said in an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald, "For brands, the Olympics is an opportunity, and the value of sports stars themselves is also being recognized by more people."

Previously, Zeng Wenli, a professor at the Guangzhou Sport Institute, also told the media that "in recent years, brand sponsorship activities have shown signs of favoring athletes." Zeng Wenli said that the athletes' spirit of hard work, perseverance, self-discipline and focus is also a very important element that brands need to use to enhance their own value.

Source: Beijing Business Daily, 21st Century Business Herald, China News Service, National Business Daily, netizens' comments, etc.