Athletes struggling with life after sports is nothing new, but China’s former Olympic boxing champion Zou Shiming still caused a stir on mainland social media after revealing he had accumulated 200 million yuan (US$29.5 million) in debt over seven years.
The 45-year-old’s most important business after leaving the game was a high-end gym in Shanghai, which had 29,000 US dollars worth of treadmills and a 3 million yuan chandelier.
If it appears His principal 2, Mainland reality TV show, the former two-time light-flyweight gold medalist, and his wife Ran Yingying, admitted the alarming extent of the household’s financial problems for the first time.
Ran revealed on the show that they had gone to the civil affairs office three times near the divorce, and had already sold properties in Beijing and other regions to pay off debts from Zou’s failed businesses.
To cut costs, Ran said he reduced the household’s water bill from 800 yuan to less than 100 yuan, and organized live sales until 2 or 3 a.m. to maintain the family’s cash flow.
Ran said the couple had to sell many properties to clear the debt.
