Chinese table tennis player awarded 6 kg of gold for Olympic triumph

According to China Business Daily, Chen Meng is expected to receive a bonus of US$525,000, after winning two gold medals in the women’s singles and women’s team table tennis events. The majority of this bonus comes from real estate tycoon Guo Bin, husband of the 2004 Athens Olympics gold medalist Wang Nan.

Ahead of the women’s singles final, Guo posted on social media promising 6 kg of gold to the champion, before Chen defeated her fellow opponent Sun Yingsha.

Chen, 30, won the women’s singles and women’s team gold medals at the last two Olympics. She was the second-seeded player in the 2024 Paris Olympics but played excellently to beat the number one seed Sun. Chen also won the 2020 Table Tennis World Cup and finished second twice at the 2019 and 2023 World Championships.

Guo Bin and Wang Nan are a famous couple in the Chinese table tennis scene, which they continuously invest in. They built a training center in Weihai City, Shandong Province, and this location is frequently used by the national table tennis team.

China became the first team to win all five Olympic table tennis gold medals, including women’s singles, men’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s team and women’s team at the Paris Olympics. The mixed doubles event was only introduced in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where China had a shocking defeat to Japan in the final.

Besides Chen, three other table tennis athletes entered the top 10 Chinese athletes to win the biggest Olympic bonus. Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin, who won the gold medal in mixed doubles event, are tied for second place with $270,000, including 3 kg of gold from Guo. Fan Zhendong comes at 10th with $56,000 for men’s singles gold medal.

The fourth to ninth places belong to diver Chang Yani ($105,000), swimmer Sun Jiajun ($95,000), Sheng Lihao (shooting), Chen Yiwen and Quan Hongchan (diving) with $63,000 each, and Xiao Yanning and Xiang Binxuan (artistic swimming) with $61,500 each.

Quan Hongchan (C) wins the gold medal in the 10m springboard diving event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo by Reuters

These numbers are not the final figures. Chinese athletes also receive bonuses from their local authorities, and each place has a different level of reward. They also receive bonuses from anonymous individuals and enterprises.

Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province is one of the localities with the highest reward, pledging about $168,000 to its Olympic champions.

China finished second at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with 40 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 24 bronze medals. China have the same number of gold medals as the U.S., but 16 fewer silver medals. This is also China’s second-best result at the Olympics, after the Beijing 2008 with 48 gold medals.