China Mobile signs up Olympic champion Wang as Migu commentator

China Mobile has signed four-time Olympic champion Wang Meng, who attracted a huge volume of attention and online traffic during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, to be a regular commentator for its streaming platform Migu, the world's biggest mobile operator said on Monday.

New and veteran athletes, including skateboarding stars Gu Ailing and Su Yiming and speed skating veteran Wang, have propelled winter sports to thrive in China, boosting the ice economy as well as demand for ski resorts and ice rinks in the domestic market, industry officials said.

Wang's commentary on the Migu platform was trending on China's major social and mainstream media during the Olympics, which drew curtains on Sunday. On Weibo, Wang Meng Commentary tag attracted 2.66 billion reads. During her commentary of the short track speed skating competitions, she came up with a number of wildly popular quotes, enthralling not just sports fans but all kinds of audiences.

Post-Winter Olympics, Wang will host an entertainment show attended by sports stars and turn a regulator commentator for the FIFA Qatar World Cup later this year on Migu, along with professional sports commentator Huang Jianxiang.

Winter sports is still a niche market in China. With investment in everything from skating rinks to snowboarding, coaches and trainers and broadcasting and commentary, China aims to attract 300 million people to take part in winter sports in the near future.

Over the past two years, ski resorts and ice rinks have sprung up all over country. There are now 654 standard ice skating rinks and 803 indoor and outdoor ski resorts in China, a surge of 317 percent and 41 percent, respectively, over 2015, according to industry data.