Xu Lijia

Xu Lijia (徐莉佳)

Chinese sailor Xu Lijia (徐莉佳) is a leading member of the Chinese national sailing team. She won the women's Laser Radial in the Olympic sailing regatta despite being almost blind and deaf from birth, with a total score of 35 points on August 6, 2012, the second gold ever in Chinese Olympic sailing history. She was selected as China's flagbearer at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

Born in Shanghai on Aug 30, 1987, Xu began to set foot in Optimist at age 10. When she was 15, she had won two consecutive Optimist world championships in 2001 and 2002. The quiet-looking girl is determined and decisive when competing. Extremely skilled, she was nicknamed the "female Yao Ming".

Major achievements:

1999:

Asian Sailing Championships – Optimist's team foil champion;

2000:

Asian Sailing Championships – third place in the Optimist's team foil;

2001:

Qingdao Sailing World Championships – women's Optimist champion;

2002:

Xu Lijia (徐莉佳)

Texas Sailing World Championships – women's Optimist champion;

Pusan Asian Games – women's Optimist champion;

2005:

World Youth Sailing Championships – runner-up in the women's Laser Radial;

2006

Sailing World Championships – women's Laser Radial champion;

2008:

Beijing Olympic Games – third place in the women's Laser Radial;

2009:

11th National Games – women's Laser Radial champion;

2012:

London Olympic Games – women's Laser Radial champion.