A fundraising auction to help promising teenager Hua Tian secure an equestrian berth at the Beijing Games took place recently in a cavernous barn in suburban Beijing.
A dozen items changed hands, including a ping-pong paddle from Olympic champion Wang Tao, a vest from star hurdler Liu Xiang and a bathing suit from woman swimmer Qian Hong who gold medaled at the Barcelona Games in 1992. The donors hope to help 17-year-old Hua buy competition horses for the upcoming Olympics.
The bidding, which was preceded by show jumping and interspersed with pop-star performances, saw one Mr Liu from Guangdong in southern China spend 780,000 yuan ($103,000) on a painting by an Australian.
The paddle went to a multi-millionaire Chinese baker for 90,000 yuan, while the autographed bathing suit from the swimmer sold for 50,000 yuan. Liu's vest, featuring his world record time of 12.88 seconds, sold for 70,000 yuan.
During the night, local celebrities paid a total of 1.5 millon yuan for what Chinese media have described as the first-ever domestic auction on behalf of an Olympic athlete.
Leading up the auction, Hua's family reportedly received donations worth about 2 million yuan after they embarked on a relentless media and publicity campaign.
So how will the money help Hua, who is said to be closer to qualifying for the Olympics than anyone else in China?
It has been estimated that an Olympic eventing horse costs anywhere between 1.5 million and 4.5 million yuan, and a rider needs four to six horses to prepare for the Games.
Hua's family says his current horse is too old to compete in the Olympics. But they say they cannot afford to buy more horses for Hua to choose from after training together for some time.
Hua, whose mother is English and father Chinese, is currently attending Eton College in England.
As the 2008 Games draws near, Hua may have to watch his Olympic dreams melt away unless some white knights speed to his rescue.
It remains unclear how Hua's family can persuade other individuals or companies to help them finance the collectively owned horses. The sponsors may be more interested in owning and naming the horses themselves, to promote their own respective reputations during the Games.
Besides this, the money may not all go to Hua's Olympic campaign. The family has announced it will use what's left from the donations to set up a Hua Tian scholarship after the Games to train talented riders in China, according to local media reports.
Several other leading Chinese equestrian athletes have also found it financially difficult to acquire good sport horses. As such, it may be time for sports administrators to step in to organize public support and ensure its financial accountability.
Hong Kong, host of the Beijing Olympic equestrian competitions, has set up a special fund since early this year to raise money to support local participation in the event.
In comparison, national sports officials seem to be playing down the cost issue.
A news report posted on the website of the Chinese Equestrian Association has quoted a top equestrian official as saying that China's best athletes including Hua are training hard and they have very good chances for the Games. As the host country of the Olympics, China is given six berths in equestrian events. All Chinese riders have to do is qualify.
Even if the athletes were to end up without good horses due to their financial troubles, they would still compete with their current partners, "without giving up any hope," the official said.
Hua and his four-legged friends will need some luck if they want to advance to the Games, or go even further than that.
