Xu Lijia

Xu Lijia (; born 30 August 1987 in Shanghai) is a Chinese sailboat racer who won a bronze medal in women's Laser Radial class at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a gold medal in the same event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she was the flag bearer for China at the closing ceremony.

Early life and career Xu Lijia was born nearly deaf in one ear and nearly blind in one eye. She started swimming at age four and attended a sports school in the Changning District of Shanghai. When she was ten Xu was chosen by coach Zhang Jing to train for sailing.

Just a year after she started sailing, Xu Lijia won the 1998 Chinese National Championships held in Hong Kong.

In 1999, when she was twelve, Xu Lijia narrowly escaped death in a sudden storm while training on the open sea off the coast of Fujian Province with her coach and teammates. Wind speeds reached , resulting in high waves, capsizing their boats. They were stranded at sea for more than two hours before managing to return to the base.

Optimist and Europe classes Xu Lijia began her international career aged 11 in the Optimist class in the 1998 Asian Championships, The next year she won gold medals at the 2006 World Championships in Los Angeles and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. It was China's second ever Olympic gold in sailing.

Partly because of her story of overcoming multiple adversities to become an Olympic champion, Xu was chosen over many better known athletes to be China's flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics.

Major wins 1998 Chinese Championships – Image:Med 1.png 1st Optimist class 1999 Asian Championships – Image:Med 1.png 1st Optimist class 2001 World Championships – Image:Med 1.png 1st Optimist class 2002 World Championships – Image:Med 1.png 1st Optimist class 2002 Asian Games – Image:Med 1.png 1st Optimist class 2005 Chinese National Games – Image:Med 2.png 2nd Europe class 2006 World Championships – Image:Med 1.png 1st Laser Radial class 2006 Asian Games – Image:Med 1.png 1st Laser Radial class 2008 World Championships – Image:Med 2.png 2nd Laser Radial class 2008 Olympics – Image:Med 3.png 3rd Laser Radial class 2009 National Games of China – Image:Med 1.png 1st Laser Radial class 2012 World Championships – Image:Med 2.png 2nd Laser Radial class 2012 Olympics - Image:Med 1.png 1st Laser Radial class