James Li (born ) is a Chinese-American athletics coach at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. His teams have won 12 national championships. He is known for his work with international runners, including from

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. Successful runners he has coached include

Stephen Sambu Stephen Sambu (born July 7, 1988, in Kenya) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in road running competitions. College career Stephen Sambu ran for the University of Arizona, where he was coached by James Li, who is also Bernard Laga ...

Lawi Lalang Lawi Lalang (born June 15, 1991) is a Kenyan-American runner. Personal life His elder brother Boaz Kiplagat Lalang is a middle-distance runner, who specialises in the 5000 metres. Lalang was drafted into the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program ...

. and

Bernard Lagat Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American former Middle-distance running, middle and long-distance running, long-distance runner. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his List of eligibility transfers in at ...

. Li has been at Arizona for 15 years as of 2018. Before that he spent 13 years at

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

. As of 2021 Li has retired from his position as coach at Arizona. He is currently the Head Coach for E-House Marathon Club in Shanghai, China Li was born in

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

Sichuan province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

, China. He was a middle-distance runner at the Beijing Institute of Physical Education, winning the Chinese Collegiate 800-meter title in 1979. After earning his bachelor's degree in 1982, Li began his coaching career at Sichuan Sports Technique Institute and was a provincial team coach for men's middle and distance runners in Sichuan Province from 1983 to 1985. Li moved to the United States and received a master's degree in biomechanics from

in 1987 and a doctorate in educational athletic administration in 1993. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998. At the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

in Beijing, Li served as manager for the American men's track team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, James Living people Arizona Wildcats track and field coaches Chinese emigrants to the United States 1960s births Date of birth missing (living people) Chinese male middle-distance runners Sportspeople from Chengdu Washington State University alumni Runners from Sichuan 20th-century Chinese sportsmen