Xu Lijia

Personal information
Native name	徐莉佳
Nickname	Lily[1]
Nationality	Chinese
Born	(1987-08-30)30 August 1987 (age 38) Shanghai,China
Alma mater	Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)[2]
Sport
Country	China
Sport	Sailing
Event	Laser Radial
Coached by	Liu Xiaoma (刘小马)[3] Jon Emmett[4]
Medal record Olympic Games 2012 London Laser Radial 2008 Beijing Laser Radial World Championships 2006 Los Angeles Laser Radial 2008 Auckland Laser Radial 2012 Boltenhagen Laser Radial
Updated on 13 August 2012

Xu Lijia (Chinese:徐莉佳;pinyin:Xú Lìjiā; born 30 August 1987 inShanghai) is a Chinesesailboat racer who won a bronze medal inwomen's Laser Radial class at the2008 Summer Olympics^[5][3] and a gold medal inthe same event at the2012 Summer Olympics,^[2] where she was theflag bearer forChina at theclosing ceremony.^[6]

Xu Lijia was born nearly deaf in one ear and nearly blind in one eye.^[6][7] She started swimming at age four and attended a sports school in theChangning District of Shanghai. When she was ten Xu was chosen by coach Zhang Jing to train for sailing.^[8]

Just a year after she started sailing, Xu Lijia won the 1998 Chinese National Championships held inHong Kong.^[1]

In 1999, when she was twelve, Xu Lijia narrowly escaped death in a sudden storm while training on the open sea off the coast ofFujian Province with her coach and teammates. Wind speeds reached 20 meters per second (45 mph), resulting in 17-meter (56 ft) high waves, capsizing their boats. They were stranded at sea for more than two hours before managing to return to the base.^[7][9][10]

Xu Lijia began her international career aged 11 in theOptimist class in the 1998 Asian Championships,^[1] winning her first international gold medal in the 1999 Asian Championships.^[8] She then won the gold medals in the 2001 and 2002 World Championships, and the2002 Asian Games, all in the Optimist class.^[8]

After she reached 15, in 2003 Xu progressed to theEurope class (then an Olympic class) according toInternational Sailing Federation (ISAF) rules. She switched to coach Liu Xiaoma, the husband of her old coach Zhang Jing.^[9]

During a routine physical examination before the2004 Summer Olympics, doctors found agiant-cell tumor of bone near Xu Lijia's left knee. She initially hoped to postpone the tumor-removal surgery until after the Olympics, but doctors warned that the tumor could spread within months which would necessitateamputation of the leg. Xu underwent the surgery and missed the Athens Olympics.^[7][10]

In 2005 Xu began racingLaser Radial class dinghies after the ISAF decided to replace the Europe class with Laser Radial in the women's sailing competition of the Olympics.^[11] The next year she won gold medals at the 2006 World Championships inLos Angeles and the2006 Asian Games inDoha.^[1]

In March 2008 Xu Lijia won a silver medal at the World Championships inAuckland,New Zealand. In August she won her first Olympic medal, a bronze at theQingdao regatta of the2008 Summer Olympics,^[1] behind American sailorAnna Tunnicliffe andGintare Volungeviciute ofLithuania.

After winning a gold medal at the2009 National Games of China,^[3] Xu took a long break from the sport in order to recover from her back injuries and to commence her studies atShanghai Jiao Tong University, majoring in Business Management.^[9][11] She resumed training in May 2011^[11] and won a silver medal in May 2012 at the World Championships held inBoltenhagen, Germany.^[1]

On 6 August 2012, Xu Lijia won the gold medal in thewomen's Laser Radial race at the2012 Summer Olympics, beatingMarit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands andEvi Van Acker of Belgium.^[12] It was China's second ever Olympic gold in sailing.^[11]

Partly because of her inspiring story of overcoming multiple adversities to become an Olympic champion, Xu was chosen over many better known athletes to be China'sflag bearer at theclosing ceremony of the London Olympics.^[10]

• 1998 Chinese Championships – 1st Optimist class
• 1999 Asian Championships – 1st Optimist class
• 2001 World Championships – 1st Optimist class
• 2002 World Championships – 1st Optimist class
• 2002 Asian Games – 1st Optimist class
• 2005 Chinese National Games – 2nd Europe class
• 2006 World Championships – 1st Laser Radial class
• 2006 Asian Games – 1st Laser Radial class
• 2008 World Championships – 2nd Laser Radial class
• 2008 Olympics – 3rd Laser Radial class
• 2009 National Games of China – 1st Laser Radial class
• 2012 World Championships – 2nd Laser Radial class
• 2012 Olympics - 1st Laser Radial class

• Xu Lijia atWorld Sailing (archive)
• Xu Lijia atOlympics.com
• Xu Lijia atOlympedia
• Xu Lijia at theChinese Olympic Committee (archived)

Olympic Games
Preceded by Zhang Ning	Flagbearer for China at the Olympics closing ceremony London 2012	Succeeded by Ding Ning

• 1987 births
• Living people
• Olympic gold medalists for China
• Olympic bronze medalists for China
• Olympic medalists in sailing
• Olympic sailors for China
• Chinese female sailors (sport)
• Sportspeople from Shanghai
• Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Laser Radial
• Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Laser Radial
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
• Asian Games gold medalists in sailing
• Sailors at the 2006 Asian Games
• Sailors at the 2002 Asian Games
• Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Laser Radial
• Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
• Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
• Asian Games gold medalists for China
• 21st-century Chinese sportswomen

• Articles using Cite sports-reference with Wikidata
• CS1 uses Chinese-language script (zh)
• CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from September 2021
• Articles containing Chinese-language text