Boy hangs out at airport to collect signatures of athletes

A YOUNG sports enthusiast has collected more than 300 signatures of Olympic athletes while waiting at Beijing airport the past six days.

Thirteen-year-old Lu Zhiyuan of Zhejiang Province said he has already secured the signatures of tennis star Rafael Nadal and basketball player Yi Jianlian, Beijing Times reported today. Next on his list is all-star basketball player Kobe Bryant, who will compete on the United States team. Lu told the newspaper he would stay at the airport one more day to collect more signatures.

Lu told the newspaper he loves sports, especially basketball and table tennis. Lu and his family purchased tickets for some events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.

He began to wait at the airport at the end of July for arriving athletes.

Lu's father had cycled from Zhejiang to Beijing for the Olympics, the report said. Being a sports enthusiast too, the father accompanied Lu everyday. The father was quoted as saying that it was more tiring trying to track down the athletes in the airport than riding all the way from Zhejiang.

Whenever an athlete stopped to sign for Lu, his father would take a picture, the report added.

Source: Shanghai Daily