| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 17, 1979 (1979-05-17) (age 46) |
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
Medal record | |
Li Qi (Chinese:李琪; born 30 October 1983 inDalian,Liaoning) is a Chinesesoftball player who competed for China at the2004 Summer Olympics and2008 Summer Olympics.[1]
Li is a left-handed pitcher, which theChina Times said made her pitches hard for batters to hit.[2] Her pitches could reach up to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).[2] She pitched at the2002 Asian Games softball competition.[3] Li competed for theChinese team in the2004 Olympic softball competition, where they finished fourth.[4][5] TheShanghai Morning Post in 2005 said, "Li Qi is currently recognized as one of the best pitchers in China afterWang Lihong."[6] Like the other Chinese women's softball players on her team, Li made a monthly income of¥1,000 (US$125) in 2006 so needed to be frugal according to theYangtse Evening Post. The team had a yearlytraining camp at Haigeng (Chinese:海埂) inJinning, Kunming. When each training session ended, Li would ask her Beijing teammates to visitmarket stalls outside theTemple of Heaven to purchase pairs of softball socks for ¥5 ($1) each on thegrey market. Before saying goodbye to them, she would always remind them, "Don't forget to bargain."[7]
Li pitched in the2008 Olympic softball competition. By striking out 10 batters, she had the third most strikeouts at the Olympics (an American pitcher and a Canadian pitchers ranked before her). Herearned run average (ERA) ranked fifth during the Olympics. Of all Chinese players at the time, she had the smallest ERA.[4] The team finished in sixth place. For her performance during the Olympics, the city ofDalian awarded her a bonus of ¥40,000 ($5,017).[8] Several Japanese softball teams asked her to become a member of their team when she was still on theChina women's national softball team but she declined.[9]
Li pitched during2010 Asian Games softball competition, where her team received a silver medal. She competed for theLiaoning team at the 2010 Straits Cup (simplified Chinese:海峡杯;traditional Chinese:海峽盃) in Taiwan, the first time she had visited the country. While pitching against theNational Taiwan University of Sport, Li had 10 strikeouts.[9] During the 2013 Straits Cup held in Taiwan, Li defeated the team fromNational Taiwan Normal University in five innings by striking out nine batters. She lost the championship game to theTaichung team after making numerous defense errors.[2] Duringthe softball competition at the2014 Asian Games, she was the pitcher and the team received a bronze medal.[10] Li competed at the2017 National Games of China,2017 Asian Women's Softball Championship and the2018 Women's Softball World Championship.[11][12]
