He was the favorite for winning the gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, however, Wang suffered ribcage fracture when Brazil's Leandro Guilheiro hit him with an elbow in the quarterfinal. Despite fighting through injury, Wang was beaten in the final by Elnur Mammadli from Azerbaijan and had to settle for silver medal. He made up for it in the 2009 World Judo Championships by winning the 73 kg final against North Korean Kim Chol-Su.