From AP:
Two bricklayers, a security guard and a cement buyer walked across the vast Olympic Green they helped build, holding some of the games’ hottest tickets in their deeply tanned hands.
About 300,000 migrant workers helped build the Olympics venues. None was expected to watch them. Many left Beijing this summer — no longer welcome — as construction stopped for the games, forcing them to look for work elsewhere.
But these four men returned, brought back by a chance encounter for a taste of Olympic victory and bitter defeat.
A year ago, a Chinese artist found them on their lunch break and asked them to pose for a portrait. He made a promise: If he could sell the painting for enough money, he’d get them tickets to the games and pay for their expenses.
