Olympic champion Yang Wei mocked for complaining about cramped HK flat

Olympic gymnastics champion Yang Wei has sparked debate online after complaining about cramped living conditions in Hong Kong while renting a flat of just over 400 square feet for his family of six.

Yang, who won Olympic and world championship titles before retiring in 2009, recently shared a video about his family’s life in Hong Kong, where they moved for their son’s education.

He said the family was “crammed together” in the small apartment. According to Yang, he and his wife, former national gymnast Yang Yun, sleep on a 1.2-metre-wide bed, while the children’s grandmother shares a room of less than 100 square feet with the couple’s twin daughters, with an inflatable mattress added to create enough sleeping space. Their son, Yang Wenchang — better known as Yang Yangyang — sleeps on a sofa in the living room.

Yang also said the family has to take turns using the bathroom each morning because of the limited space.

He revealed that the lease is about to expire and said he was undecided about renewing it after the landlord proposed a rent increase. Yang added that the family was considering letting their son move into a student dormitory to save money and help him become more independent, though they remained concerned about safety issues.

However, many mainland Chinese netizens were unconvinced by Yang’s complaints, accusing the former athlete of trying to gain sympathy despite his wealth and livestream e-commerce business.

Comments flooded social media, with some users writing: “I earn 3,000 yuan a month and you’re asking me for advice?”, “He has tens of millions in assets, ordinary people don’t need to sympathise with him,” and “He can probably earn a year’s Hong Kong rent from a single livestream session.”

Others also questioned Yang’s concerns over dormitory safety, with one commenter asking: “Do other students living in dorms all face safety problems too?”

Yang and Yang Yun, both former members of China’s national gymnastics team, married in 2006 and have one son and twin daughters. In recent years, Yang has been active in livestream sales on Chinese social media platforms.

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