Chinese athletes to watch in Tokyo
Fan Zhendong
• Age: 24 · Place of birth: Guangzhou
• Sport: Table tennis
• Olympic debutant Fan is ranked No 1 in the world and is one of the favorites for men’s singles gold in Tokyo. After joining the Chinese senior team in 2012, he went on to become the youngest winner of the ITTF World Tour and the youngest world champion.
Chen Meng
• Age: 27 · Place of birth: Qingdao, Shandong province
• Sport: Table tennis
• World No 1 Chen is the reigning ITTF Women’s World Cup women’s singles champion, and won the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She claimed a silver medal at the 2019 world championships, but despite her vast experience will be making her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games.
Wang Qiang • Age: 29 · Place of birth: Tianjin
• Sport: Tennis
• China’s women’s No 1 Wang will fancy her chances of a deep run at the Tokyo Games following the withdrawals of a number of big names, including Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu. Wang has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, another on the WTA 125K series, and 13 singles titles and one doubles crown on the ITF circuit. In 2019, Wang reached a career-high of No 12 in the world, becoming the second-highest ranked Chinese tennis player in history after Li Na.
Alex Hua Tian • Age: 31 · Place of birth: London, UK
• Sport: Equestrian
• At the 2008 Beijing Games, Hua became the first ever Chinese to compete in eventing at an Olympics. Having also competed at the Rio Games, where he finished eighth in the individual event, Tokyo will be his third Olympics. However, this time Hua also has the honor of representing China in the team competition for the first time. Hua won silver at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Su Bingtian
• Age: 31 · Place of birth: Zhongshan, Guangdong province
• Sport: Athletics
• In 2015, Su became the first ever Asian-born sprinter to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters, and is the co-holder of the Asian 100m record (9.91 seconds) along Nigeria-born Qatari Femi Ogunode. Su, who also owns the Asian 60m record (6.42), will attempt to make more history in Tokyo by becoming the first ever Chinese sprinter to make an Olympic 100m final.
Gong Lijiao • Age: 32 · Place of birth: Shijiazhuang
• Sport: Athletics
• Gong Lijiao is currently ranked No 1 in the world in the women’s shot put and is strongly fancied to claim gold in Tokyo — one of the few major medals missing from her collection. Gong was the runner-up at the 2012 London Olympics and won bronze at the 2008 Games. She was crowned world champion in 2017 and 2019.
Yang Jiayu
• Age: 25 · Place of birth: Wuhai, Inner Mongolia autonomous region
• Sport: Athletics
• Race walker Yang arrives in Tokyo in excellent form, having set a women’s 20-kilometer world record (1 hr 23 min and 51 sec) at the national championships in Huangshan, Anhui province, in March. She won 20km gold at the 2017 world championships but failed to retain her title two years later after being disqualified in the final kilometer for a fourth red card. The 2018 Asian Games champion has high hopes of a medal in what will be her Olympic debut in Tokyo.
Zhu Ting • Age: 26 · Place of birth: Zhoukou, Henan province
• Sport: Volleyball
• A household name in China, Zhu is the inspirational captain of China’s all-conquering women’s team. She has led her country to golds in multiple international competitions, including the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2019 World Cup. After being named MVP of the Rio Games, Zhu was signed by Turkish club Vakifbank, where she won all of Europe’s top honors over a three-year period and as one of the highest-paid volleyball players in the world.
Shi Tingmao • Age: 29 · Place of birth: Chongqing
• Sport: Diving
• Shi is the defending Olympic champion in the women’s 3-meter springboard and the synchronized 3m springboard events. She shot to prominence by winning 1m springboard gold at the 2011 world championships in Shanghai. As well as her two titles at the 2016 Rio Olympics, she is a five-time Asian Games champion and has collected a total of eight golds at world championships over the years.
Xu Jiayu • Age: 25 · Place of birth: Wenzhou, Zhejiang province
• Sport: Swimming
• Xu is the national record holder in all of the backstroke distances. He competed in his first Olympics at the 2012 London Games, and four years later in Rio won 100m backstroke silver. A two-time world champion in the 100 back, he will attempt to go one step better in Tokyo and will also swim in the 200m backstroke.
Zhang Yufei • Age: 23 · Place of birth: Xuzhou, Jiangsu province
• Sport: Swimming
• Zhang specializes in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. She holds the world junior record for the 200m butterfly. As one of the most promising swimmers in the international scene, she won seven medals in her career, spanning the Youth Olympics, Asian Games, and world championships.
Zheng Siwei • Age: 24 · Place of birth: Wenzhou, Zhejiang province
• Sport: Badminton
• Zheng is currently ranked first in the mixed doubles world rankings, along with Tokyo Olympics playing partner Huang Yaqiong. He is a two-time world champion and Asian Games gold medalist along with Huang. He also helped the national team clinch the 2018 Thomas Cup and 2019 Sudirman Cup titles.
Huang Yaqiong • Age: 27 · Place of birth: Quzhou, Zhejiang province
• Sport: Badminton
• Sitting atop the world rankings with Zheng Siwei, Huang will be hopeful of winning mixed doubles gold in Tokyo. Playing alongside Lu Kai, she won the prestigious All England Open in 2017, and in 2019 with Zheng. Together with Lu, she was crowned champion at the 2017 Asian Championships. With Zheng, she won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, and claimed world championship titles in 2018 and 2019. Huang was named Female Player of the Year by the Badminton World Federation in 2018 and 2019.
Xiao Ruoteng • Age: 25 · Place of birth: Beijing
• Sport: Gymnastics
• Xiao Ruoteng was a member of China’s bronze-medal winning team at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. After being forced to miss the 2016 Rio Olympics due to injuries, he returned to major competition in 2017, claiming three golds and two silvers at the Asian Championships. He then won the all-around competition at the 2017 worlds, and was named as one of the Top 10 Athletes of 2018 by China’s Xinhua news agency. In 2019, Xiao made Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ China list, which ranks young people who have made a name for themselves in fields such as science, manufacturing, art and sports.
Wang Luyao
• Age: 27 · Place of birth: Wenzhou, Zhejiang province
• Sport: Shooting
• Wang represented China at the 2016 Asian Air Rifle Championship in Teheran, winning both the individual and team titles in the 10-meter air rifle event. She also broke individual and team world youth records in the Iranian capital. At the age 14, Wang was scouted by the shooting coach of a local sports school. She was named an Elite Athlete of International Class by the General Administration of Sport of China in 2019.
Wu Jingyu • Age: 34 · Place of birth: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province
• Sport: Taekwondo
• Wu won China’s first ever Asian Games taekwondo title in 2006. She went on to claim gold at the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships in the 47 kg class and won gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in the 49 kg class. The two-time world champion will be bidding to become the first three-time Olympic taekwondo champion in Tokyo.
Zhao Shuai
• Age: 25 · Place of birth: Changzhou, Jiangsu province
• Sport: Taekwondo
• Zhao became the first Chinese man to win an Olympic taekwondo gold medal at the 2016 Rio Games. Having finished third at the 2015 world championships, he claimed gold at the 2017 edition. He served as a flag-bearer for China at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games, where he later won a silver medal. In 2020, Zhao was named on Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ China list, which ranks young people who have found fame.
Wang Shuang
• Age: 26 · Place of birth: Wuhan, Hubei province
• Sport: Soccer
• Star midfielder Wang was named the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Player of the Year in 2018, and has won the Chinese Women’s Footballer of the Year award on three occasions. The former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder helped China reach the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics and starred during the latter stages of the team’s difficult qualification route to the Tokyo Games. She was also the torchbearer at the opening ceremony of the 7th CISM Military World Games in 2019 in her native city of Wuhan.
Lyu Xiaojun
• Age: 36 · Place of birth: Qianjiang, Hubei province
• Sport: Weightlifting
• Lyu Xiaojun won his first World Weightlifting Championships title in 2009 in Goyang, South Korea, where he set new world records for snatch and total. He won 77 kg gold at the London 2012 Olympics. He is also a five-time world champion at 77 kg, but since 2018 has been competing at 81 kg after the International Weightlifting Federation reclassified the categories.
Han Xu
• Age: 21 · Place of birth: Shijiazhuang
• Sport: Basketball
• Han was drafted by the New York Liberty 14th overall in the 2019 WNBA Draft, becoming the first Chinese player to be selected for the prestigious league in 22 years, and the youngest in her draft class at 19. She has represented China at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women, the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup and the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Feng Shanshan • Age: 31 · Place of birth: Guangzhou
• Sport: Golf
• As the first player from the Chinese mainland to win on the North America-based LPGA Tour, Feng Shanshan is a true trailblazer for Chinese golf. She has amassed 10 victories on the tour in total, including the 2012 LPGA Championship. Feng won the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. From November 2017 until April 2018, she topped the women’s world rankings, and currently sits 19th in the standings.