Banned swimmer Sun Yang can be ‘the Li Jiaqi of sports’ after selling US$7.8 million worth of cosmetics in 2 days on his live-stream debut
- With his swimming career on hold, Sun Yang is using his high-profile brand and personality to sell products online and fans are lapping it up
- Li Jiaqi is known as the ‘King of Lipstick’ in China with tens of millions of Douyin followers, compared with Sun’s 3.8 million
Banned Chinese swimming star Sun Yang has the potential to become the “Li Jiaqi of mainland sports” after he helped sell around 50 million yuan (US$7.8 million) worth of cosmetic products online, a sports analyst said.
The 30-year-old hosted a two-day live-stream sale on Douyin, China’s Tik Tok equivalent over the weekend, on behalf of the Sanya Duty Free Mall, reaching almost 7.4 million users and attracting 180,000 new subscribers.
Three-time Olympic champion Sun was reported to have sold goods valued at more than 33 million yuan on day one and added another 16 million on his second day on Saturday. He received a 20 per cent commission on sales, earning around 6 million yuan after tax.
“It should be pointed out that Sun Yang’s choice of beauty goods is very insightful. The overall profit of beauty products is high, and the beauty products of duty-free stores are very attractive to female users,” wrote analyst Fu Zhenghao on the mainland’s Sports Money website.
“They are one of the most imaginative subdivisions for live broadcasting and goods. Sun Yang is expected to further expand his scale in this field, and even truly become ‘Li Jiaqi in sports’.
“The traffic and sales generated by Sun Yang’s live-stream are comparable to the data of top stars in the live broadcasting industry.”
Who is Li Jiaqi, China’s millionaire ‘Lipstick King’?
Austin Li Jiaqi is known as the “King of Lipstick” in China after he sold 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes a few years ago. In 2020, he had around 40 million fans on Douyin and is recognised as China’s best live-stream salesman.
According to Fu, Sun has the personality to reach those dizzy heights, proving his ban from international swimming has had little impact on his popularity in mainland China.
Sun was barred from the sport for four years after being found guilty of an anti-doping violation, but is hoping to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. His ban prevented him from taking part in last year’s delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.
Sun, who has 3.8 million fans on Douyin and more than 30 million followers on Twitter-like Sina Weibo, was reportedly comfortable in front of the cameras during more than five hours of selling over two days at the weekend.
One female social media user said Sun, who promoted products such as CPB, SK-II and Estee Lauder, may have found his calling once he retires from swimming.
“I think he was quite professional,” she was quoted as saying by mainland media. “I feel that after retiring, he may have found his favourite hobby. And he is good, his explanations of the beauty products was also very professional.”
Not all of his fans were enthusiastic about his celebrity-like ventures, though, saying he should focus on preparing for Paris.
“I had confidence in Sun’s comeback at the 2024 Olympic Games, and that he can compete for another gold in Paris but now I’m a little hesitant,” one fan was quoted as saying by the Global Times. “Live streaming might sap his energy. Hope he can prove himself during training.”
It has become a trend among Chinese sports stars to try establish an online presence. Table tennis player Zhang Jike, ex-volleyball star Hui Ruoqi and diver Wu Minxia have all tried their hand at live-stream selling. Sun is, so far, the most successful.
In February 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hit Sun with an eight-year ban after finding him guilty of refusing to cooperate with anti-doping testers who visited his home in Hangzhou in September, 2018.
Sun successfully had the ruling quashed by Switzerland’s highest court after one member of the CAS panel was found to have posted anti-Chinese messages on Twitter. But in June 2021, a fresh CAS panel found him guilty again, banning him for four years and three months, with the suspension set to expire on May, 2024, weeks before the start of the Paris Olympics.
Sun is a polarising figure in international swimming, and his rivalry with Australian swimmer Mack Horton has become part of the sport’s folklore. But his popularity in China remains undimmed and many observers feel he was treated harshly by anti-doping bodies.
