Gong Xiangyu (; born 21 April 1997) is a

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

volleyball player. She is the captain of the

China women's national volleyball team The China women's national volleyball team () represents the People's Republic of China in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches governed by Chinese Volleyball Association. The team is one of the leading and most successfu ...

. On club level, she plays for

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

Personal

She was born in

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its ...

to a P.E. teacher mother who was once a national épée champion, and a policeman father who used to play for the Jiangsu U23 basketball team. Her given name Xiangyu means "flying in the universe." She started attending

Nanjing Normal University Nanjing Normal University (NJNU; zh, p=Nánjīng Shīfàn Dàxué, c=, s=南京师范大学) is a provincial public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Jiangsu, and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Educati ...

in 2016.

Career

Junior

Before 2014, she was a setter. As a substitute player, she participated in 2012 Asian Youth Girls Volleyball Championship and

2013 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship The 2013 Girls Youth Volleyball World Championship was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the ...

. In 2014, because the former main opposite hitter, Ju Wanrong's injury, she began to be an opposite hitter and had success. During 2014 Asian Junior Women's Volleyball Championship and

2015 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship The 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship was the eighteenth edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship, which was hosted by Puerto Rico from 11 to 19 September 2015 in the cities of Caguas, Gurabo, Juncos and M ...

, she showed her power.

Senior

She was promoted by Coach Cai Bin from the Jiangsu U23 team to Jiangsu Women's Volleyball Club in the 2015-2016 season. Following a successful debut season at the

Chinese Volleyball League Chinese Volleyball Super League, often abbreviated to CVL (abbreviation remain unchanged), are the pre-eminent men's and women's professional volleyball leagues in China. It was founded in 1996 as the Chinese Volleyball League and is organized by ...

, she was selected by Coach

Lang Ping "Jenny" Lang Ping (; born 10 December 1960) is a Chinese former volleyball player and coach. She is the former head coach of the Chinese women's national volleyball team and U.S. women's national volleyball team. As a player, Lang won the mos ...

for the national team in 2016. She represented

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

and won the gold medal. She participated at the 2016 Montreux Volley Masters,

2017 Montreux Volley Masters The 2017 Montreux Volley Masters is a women's volleyball competition set in Montreux, Switzerland. Participating teams Squads Group stage Group A Group B Classification round Final round Semifinal 3rd p ...

2018 Montreux Volley Masters The 2018 Montreux Volley Masters is the 33rd edition of the women's volleyball competition set in Montreux, Switzerland. Participating teams Squads Group stage The first 2 teams of each group qualify for the final round. *''All times are Centr ...

, and

2019 Montreux Volley Masters The 2019 Montreux Volley Masters was the 34th edition of the women's volleyball competition set in Montreux, Switzerland. Participating teams Teams: Squads Group stage The first 2 teams of each group qualify for the final round. *''All times a ...

Awards

National Team

2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

- Gold medal * 2017 World Grand Champions Cup - Gold medal *

2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League The 2018 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League was the inaugural edition of the FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League, a new annual international women's volleyball tournament contested by 16 national teams that replaced the former FIVB Volleyba ...

： - Bronze medal *

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

： - Gold medal *

2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship The 2018 FIVB Women's World Championship was the eighteenth edition of the event, contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The final tournament was held in Japan from 29 Se ...

: - Bronze medal *

2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup The 2019 FIVB Women's World Cup was the 13th edition of the event, contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The tournament was held from 14 to 29 September 2019 in Japan. T ...

： - Gold medal * 2023 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League： - Silver medal *

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

： - Gold medal

References

People from Lianyungang Volleyball players from Jiangsu Chinese women's volleyball players Olympic gold medalists for China in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics 1997 births Living people Opposite hitters Setters (volleyball) Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games volleyball players for China Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Volleyball players at the 2018 Asian Games Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2022 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists in volleyball {{PRChina-volleyball-bio-stub