A T-shirt bearing the autograph of Liu Xiang, the gold medalist in the men's 110-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, has sold for 4,050 yuan (US$488) in an online charity auction.

The auction, run by EachNet.com from last Tuesday till yesterday, included 31 items autographed by Olympic gold medalists from home and aboard, as well as other souvenirs from the Athens Olympic Games.

Besides his signature, Liu, China's first Olympics gold medalist in track and field, also marked the item he participated - "110mh" and his world record tying time of 12.91 seconds on the white cotton T-shirt.

More than 9,545 people visited the auction Web page, with 62 bids made, before the T-shirt was finally bought by a local consumer using the netname "Dudulong," who claimed to be an enthusiastic sports souvenir collector.

Meanwhile, a mobile phone cover signed by Liu also sold for 3,150 yuan, the Website said.

Other souvenirs also included a piece of plastic track on which Michael Johnson, the US "King of Dash," won the 200-meter and 400-meter sprint double at the Atlanta Olympics, as well as a T-shirt signed by members of China's national men's basketball team.

The weeklong auction took in 21,388 yuan, the Website said.

"The exciting Olympic Games, especially the excellent performance of our Chinese athletes, has greatly stimulated the whole online sports souvenir exchange market," said Tang Lei, public relations manager of EachNet.com.

All money raised will be donated to the Shanghai Special Olympic Games for the Disabled to support the sports activity for local handicapped people, Tang said.

Fan Yi, a local sports fan who participated in the auction, said that owing a gold medalist's signature is an inspiration for him.

"Of course it will be nice if my bid could help others in the meantime," Fan said.

(Shanghai Daily September 15, 2004)