Liu Zige

Liu Zige (, born 31 March 1989) is a Chinese competitive swimmer. She won the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 2008 Olympics and the 2013 World Championships. She formerly held the long course and short course world records in the event.

Career 2005–2008 Liu swam at the 2005 World Championships, where she placed twentieth in the 200 m butterfly with a time of 2:14.25.

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Liu competed in the 200 m butterfly. She qualified fastest for the final with a new Asian record of 2:06.25. In the final, she went head-to-head with Australia's Jessicah Schipper, who was the world record holder and reigning world champion in the event. Liu, a relative unknown, went 2:04.18 to win the gold medal and break Schipper's world record of 2:05.40 from 2006.

After the conclusion of the swimming events in Beijing, it was revealed that Schipper's coach, Ken Wood, had sold his training program to Liu's coach. Liu had spent time training with Schipper and Wood prior to the Beijing Olympics.

2009

In July 2009, Liu competed at the World Championships in Rome, swimming the 200 m butterfly. Her world record was broken by the US' Mary DeScenza in the heats. In the final, Liu won the silver medal in 2:03.90, finishing behind Schipper. Schipper and Liu recorded the two fastest times in history.

In October 2009, Liu competed at the National Games of China in Jinan. She broke the Asian record in the 100 m butterfly, going 56.07 to miss Sarah Sjöström's world record by 0.01 seconds. Days later, Liu competed in the 200 m butterfly. She went 2:01.81 to reclaim the world record, surpassing Schipper's mark by 1.60 seconds. Liu held it until 2026.

In November 2009, Liu competed in the FINA World Cup. At the Stockholm leg, she went 2:02.50 in the short course 200 butterfly to break Yuko Nakanishi's world record of 2:03.12 from 2008. Four days later, at the Berlin leg, Liu lowered the mark to 2:00.78. It stood until 2014.

2010–2016 In September 2010, Liu announced that she would skip the Asian Games scheduled for November 2010, choosing to prioritise the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai. She had not competed since the 2009 FINA World Cup.

At the 2011 Chinese National Championships in Wuhan, Liu won the 200 m butterfly in 2:04.40, which was the fastest time in a textile suit. This qualified her for the World Championships.

Despite going into the World Championships with the fastest time of the year, Liu was relegated to the bronze medal, recording 2:05.90 to finish 0.35 seconds behind gold medalist Jiao Liuyang.

Liu qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London as defending champion in the 200 m butterfly. In London, she finished eighth in the event, and her Olympic record was broken by gold medalist Jiao.

At the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Liu won the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly with a time of 2:04.59.

At the 2015 Chinese National Championships, Liu finished seventh in the 200 m butterfly, thereby missing qualification for the World Championships in Kazan.

At the 2016 Chinese National Championships in Foshan, Liu finished 5th in the 200 m butterfly with a time 2:08.86 and did not qualify for the Olympic team.