Chapter 521: Happily Taking Home Two Awards

Chapter 521: A Double Triumph

Tennis, golf, and Formula One hold the lion's share of Laureus Awards, wielding immense global influence and commercial weight; yet beneath the prestige lies an intricate web woven between these sports, their champions, and the corporate giants funding the accolades.

Track and field followed close behind, particularly in the realms of sprinting and long-distance running.

In contrast, football—a sport commanding far greater global dominion and industry-wide wealth—scarcely left a mark on the Laureus stage, a casualty of conflicting interests; the powerful syndicates behind Laureus found football a territory too fortified to conquer, and the award itself lacked the gravity to sway a giant so vast.

Golf maintained its presence in this year's nominations for Sportsman of the Year, though the prospects for its contender remained slim, while the remaining slots were occupied by a long-distance runner and a cyclist.

Meng Fan stood out as a striking anomaly, his nomination forged from the heavy triumvirate of weightlifting, wrestling, and judo.

Having just secured the Breakthrough of the Year, his momentum seemed only to build, casting the ultimate crown within undeniable reach; Laureus was no charity distributing prizes evenly to keep the peace, but rather delighted in showering a singular, dominant force with multiple honors, provided the competition remained fair.

Thus, when the presenter finally called out his name for Sportsman of the Year, it felt to many like an inevitability, prompting a sudden wave of standing ovations and ecstatic cheers from an audience waiting for precisely this moment, while across China, the four-in-the-morning digital landscape of Weibo erupted once more into a frenzy.

"He got it!"

"He actually pulled it off!"

"My Iron God is absolute gold!"

"Incredible, my Dream!"

"Meng Fan—the dream of 1.4 billion people!"

"Five Olympic golds made it a necessity; this makes it history!"

"..."

The media immediately unleashed their pre-written, hyperbolic headlines into the world.

"National Athlete Meng Fan Claims Both Laureus Breakthrough and Sportsman of the Year!"

"Two Nominations, Two Victories: Even Laureus Cannot Halt the World’s Strongest Man!"

"Meng Fan Secures Laureus Sportsman of the Year—A Historic First for China, for Asia, and for His Race!"

"Shattering Western Dominance to Summit the Laureus Peak!"

"Conquering Global Sports to Become the World's Iron God!"

"Five Olympic Golds Proven by Pure Might, Laureus Double Crowns Sealed by Supreme Influence!"

Beyond the straightforward praise for the ceremony, a deluge of alternative narratives began to flood the network, shifting into a collective chronicle of his mythos, interspersed with more curious angles.

"A Retrospective: How the Iron God Became a Global Sporting Icon in Just One Year"

"Iron Exterior, Tender Soul: An Analysis of the Women in Meng Fan’s Manga"

"What Drives the Creativity of the Man Who Drove the World Mad?"

"More Enviable Than His Olympic Golds and Laureus Double: His Romance!"

"Meng Fan Shares His Thoughts on Independent Women!"

"The Secret to Meng Fan’s Weight Loss is Our Latest Product"

"Ten Words of Wisdom from Meng Fan to Entrepreneurs"

"A Health Warning from Meng Fan: Never Combine These Specific Foods!"

"Start Training Now and Become the Next Chinese Dream"

After accepting the award, Meng Fan ascended the stage once more, adjusting the new trophy in his hands as he began a considerably longer acceptance speech, dedicating the first half to a exhaustive list of gratitude that left no benefactor unmentioned, before turning his focus toward the nature of dreams.

Where his first speech had been a playful jest, this one carried a more grounded gravity.

"...As the old Chinese saying goes, one must always harbor a dream, for what if it actually comes to pass? Do not stop at one; cultivate many, renew them constantly, let each stage of life possess its own ambition, and let those ambitions be vast. Another ancient proverb tells us that he who aims for the top may hit the middle, he who aims for the middle may hit the bottom, and he who aims for the bottom achieves nothing at all. Set your dreams higher, farther, and in greater abundance; keep your hands busy and your spirit striving, and life will grow sweeter, and your smiles will burn brighter."

This sermon on aspiration was never meant for the elite gathered in the auditorium—resolute individuals who already knew their desires and the path to secure them—but was spoken directly to the ordinary masses watching through screens, for he too had emerged from their ranks, and his late-career transformation stood as proof that anyone, anywhere, could begin anew at any moment.

When the curtains fell, he endured a barrage of media interviews, adroitly pivoting from standard responses to plug his other creative endeavors, particularly his manga, *The Wonders of Mountains and Seas*; already a phenomenon in Japan and China, its English edition was thriving in Southeast Asia, and while Western sales were modest, its critical acclaim was soaring, a momentum he fully intended to exploit with his new dual-laurel prestige.

The following day found Meng Fan at a promotional event for a luxury automotive brand—one of the primary benefactors of the Laureus awards—who had shrewdly locked him into an endorsement contract just prior to the ceremony, securing a highly lucrative deal at a fraction of what his post-triumph signature would now command.

With his duties concluded, he commenced his journey back to China.

The timing of this double victory could not have been more exquisite for the upcoming Shanhai Animation Awards, guaranteed to draw the gaze of the international community and ignite a firestorm of digital discourse and media coverage that would elevate the animation festival to an entirely new echelon of prestige.

For any nascent awards ceremony, visibility is the vital currency required to lure top-tier industry professionals and capture the public imagination.

Furthermore, it offered an irresistible allure for high-profile exposure.

Prior to his triumph, invitations dispatched by Penguin Animation and B-Station to various celebrities had yielded polite hesitation or scheduling conflicts, despite Meng Fan’s personal circle committing early. Yet the moment the dual awards were confirmed, those who had been "deliberating" or claimed to be occupied suddenly discovered gaps in their schedules, vowing to overcome any obstacle to attend.

Such was the gravitational pull of heightened prestige; much like the red carpets of the world's premier galas, even those with no stake in the honors would pull every available lever just to secure an invitation and walk among the stars.

(End of Chapter)