Chinanews, Beijing, April 10 - Ai Dongmei, the former international marathon champion, now has to sell all her medals to make ends meet.

 

Ai, 26, from Heilongjiang Province, started her career as a professional athlete in 1995. She was the winner respectively of the Beijing International Marathon, Dalian International Marathon and Chiba Road Relay. However, after her retirement in 2003, her pension has been only 300 yuan a month.

 

With the help of the media in Beijing, Ai set up a blog to sell her medals, which used to be all her glory.

 

"1,000 yuan can buy a gold medal, 500-300 a silver, and 100 a bronze," said Ai. Besides the blog, Ai has also set up a stall in Tongzhou District of Beijing to sell other medals.

 

By April 8, many people showed their sympathy to Ai, and they said that they would help her to tide over her difficulties. One of them even offered 10,000 yuan for Ai's gold medal acquired in Beijing International Marathon.

 

"I don't want to sell my medals, really. I wish I can buy them back in the future," said Li.