• Eyelid-weightlifting raises eyebrows in China

    China Daily via Reuters

    Wang Xianxiang carries two buckets of water with his eyelids during a provincial festival for migrant workers in Shaodong County, Hunan province, Saturday.

    By Ed Flanagan, Producer, NBC News

    BEIJING – Wang Xianxiang’s talent is an eyeful.

    The 42-year-old fireworks maker from the central Chinese province of Hunan was photographed last weekend performing his signature trick: Suspending two water buckets with a combined weight of 9 pounds on plastic hangers hooked to his eyelids for a minute.

    China Daily via Reuters

    Wang says he is hoping to increase the amount of weight he can carry with his eyelids.

    Wang entertained local migrant workers at a provincial festival near his hometown of Liuyang Saturday.

    “When I first started it was extremely painful,” Wang told NBC News about his unique talent, “but after a lot of practice it’s just uncomfortable today.”

    Among other talents he’s developed for the show? Having two men wrap a metal wire tightly around his neck while he talks to the audience, which he says has been in the thousands.

    Wang, who is married with two children, said he has been doing his eyelid trick for five to six years and started doing it purely out of boredom. 

    But as he increased the weight on his eyelids, he started to train – practicing for 30 minutes each morning and two hours at night. 

    Wang’s family initially frowned upon his hobby, but slowly came around as his stature grew within the community.

    When asked what his aspirations for the future were, Wang kept it simple. “I can currently hold 4.5 pounds on each eyelid, I’d like to push that to 11 pounds per eyelid.”

    He was optimistic that he could accomplish that eye-popping feat by the end of the year.

    NBC News’ Le Li contributed to this report.

  • Jubilation abundant in Olympic coverage

    Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

    China's Lei Sheng, left, reacts during his men's individual foil semifinal fencing match against Italy's Andrea Baldini on July 31.

    By Kyle Bruggeman, NBC News

    When the greatest athletes on Earth compete for Olympic glory, it’s only fitting that the greatest photographers be there to capture the moments. The excitement of winning and the abjection of defeat are staples when photographing sports.

    Images of jubilation help convey who won and lost instantly. They tell the story of dreams made and dreams lost in a fraction of a second. Here are some of our favorite photos of Olympic jubilations from today.

    View a slideshow dedicated to moments of jubilation

    Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images

    South Africa's Chad Le Clos celebrates winning the men's 200m butterfly final on July 31.

    Matt Dunham / AP

    U.S. gymnasts, left to right, Gabrielle Douglas, Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney and Jordyn Wieber celebrate as they look at the score of a teammate's performance during the Artistic Gymnastics women's team final on July 31.

    Quinn Rooney / Getty Images

    Antoine Valois-Fortier of Canada, right, reacts to defeating Travis Stevens of the U.S. in Judo on July 31.

    •Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

  • Weightlifting school trains China's sports stars of the future

    AFP - Getty Images

    A young Chinese boy training at a weightlifting school in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian province on July 11, 2012. Dominant China put Asia on top of the world at the Beijing Olympics but the pressure is on as they bid to repeat the feat away from home.

    AFP - Getty Images

    Young Chinese boys training at a weightlifting school in Xiamen, Fujian province.

    AFP - Getty Images

    Two Chinese girls training at a weightlifting school on July 11, 2012

     

    •Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

     

  • Armenian weightlifter dislocates elbow in attempt at World Weightlifting Championships in Paris

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

     This is definitely cringe-worthy. Ouch.

    Etienne Laurent / EPA

    Hripsime Khurshudyan from Armenia competes in the women's +75kg snatch and lift competition at the World Weightlifting Championships in Disney Village near Paris, France, Nov. 13.

    Francois Mori / AP

    Hripsime Khurshudyan from Armenia dislocates her left elbow as she competes in the snatch of the Women's +75kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships, in Paris, Sunday Nov. 13.

  • Muslim weightlifter competes in USA National Weightlifting Competition

    By Rich Shulman

    It's nice to read that she has been allowed to compete:  Full story.

    Previous story from June 27.

    Related: As we PhotoBlogged earlier, the Iranian women's soccer team was banned from an Olympic qualifying tournament in a similar dispute

    Charlie Neibergall / AP

    Kulsoom Abdullah, of Atlanta, competes during the national weightlifting championships on Friday, July 15, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Abdullah is the first woman to compete in the championships while wearing clothing that covers her legs, arms and head, in keeping with her Muslim faith, after the International Weightlifting Federation ruled on her behalf that athletes could wear a full-body "unitard" under the customary weightlifting uniform.

    Charlie Neibergall / AP

    Kulsoom Abdullah, of Atlanta, competes during the national weightlifting championships on Friday, July 15 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

    Charlie Neibergall / AP

    Kulsoom Abdullah, of Atlanta, waits to compete at the national weightlifting championships on Friday, July 15 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

    Charlie Neibergall / AP

    Kulsoom Abdullah, of Atlanta, competes during the national weightlifting championships on Friday, July 15 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

    After a hard-fought battle in the name of her faith, Muslim weightlifter Kulsoom Abdullah is now able to compete without violating her religious beliefs. Abdullah discusses her victory with msnbc's Thomas Roberts.