After a probationary period of 5 years, China’s table tennis sports officials are allowing Wang Hao, the men’s singles world champion, to date a fellow athlete. From The Guardian:
After years of punishing training and sacrifice, China‘s table tennis star Wang Hao has finally been rewarded – not just with the world No1 spot, but with the right to have a girlfriend.
Sports officials have decreed the 25-year-old player can date a fellow athlete, local media have reported, five years after he fell foul of a ban on romance.
[…]Wang’s new girlfriend, Peng Luyang, is a former national champion. Table tennis officials, said to be among the most conservative in China’s state sports system, may hope that she will prove a stabilising influence on him.