China's Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang's track shoes fetched
200,000 yuan (US$25,000) at a charity gala auction in Beijing on
Sunday, breaking his own record made at a similar event two weeks
ago
The running shoes, autographed by the 110m Olympic title and
world record holder, were just one of many items donated to raise
money for the schooling of migrant workers' children.
The shoes were bought by Air China, which donated another
600,000 yuan at the charity gala jointly held by the China Youth
Development Foundation (CYDF) and the China Central Television
(CCTV).
Another pair of Liu's track shoes was bought at a charity
auction for disabled and injured athletes on Jan. 21 for 150,000
yuan.
Broadcast live for 17 hours on CCTV, the auction collected a
total of 3.39 million yuan for the charity fund founded to assist
migrant children, whose schooling in cities has caused great
concern in the country.
Retired diver Xiong Ni's gold medal from the 2000 World Diving
Championship fetched 1.28 million yuan, the biggest sale at the
auction.
China's first astronaut Yang Liwei and world champion diver Guo
Jingjing also had their valuables auctioned at the charity gala to
contribute to the fund.
(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2007)