Sharing videos of himself practicing around the world, his account on short-video sharing app Douyin, known as TikTok overseas, has attracted about 350,000 followers and garnered nearly 1.6 million likes so far. Nicknaming him "Snowboard Lunatic", many people online have commented that, in him, they found the power of dreams and the infinite possibility of life.

"I hope that my story can plant a seed in people's hearts. A seed of hope and dreams, which will one day grow into a tree," says Zhang.

A Sina Weibo user named Molly-97 comments under one of Zhang's posts: "Your story opened my mind about how to live my life. When I feel down, your posts cheer me up."

Zhang's fame helped him to "realize his Olympic dream", not as an athlete, but as a commentator in the broadcast booth of Migu, a subsidiary of China Mobile that provides digital content and related services.

"Before Su Yiming competed in the Games, it was like I was with him. Feeling my heart pounding, I got a bottle of an energy drink and listened to a song on my earphones, like I always do before a competition. I even imagined what tricks I would do for the preliminary and final rounds," Zhang says, adding that he first met the now 18-year-old star in 2013. Su won China's first Olympic gold in the men's snowboard Big Air and a silver medal in men's snowboard slopestyle at the Games.