Luan Jujie ( zh, s=栾菊杰, p=Luán Jújié; born 14 July 1958) is a Chinese-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

fencer, born in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

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

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

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, she became the first Chinese (and non-European) athlete to win the gold medal in fencing. Since moving to

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, Canada in 1985, she has become a Canadian citizen. At the age of 50, Luan represented Canada at the

2008 Summer Olympics 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 fro ...

. She has also participated in the

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and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Career

Being an outstanding athlete in her youth, she had already done well in track and badminton before switching to fencing. She started fencing at the age of 17 and in no time joined the national team in the same year. Luan quickly rose in the international ranking capturing 2nd in the 1978 World Junior Championships (first Asian athlete to enter since 1901) and golds at the 1979 Chinese National Games, 1983 International Women's Fencing Tournament (first East Asian fencer to ever win an international event) and 1984 World Championships.Chinese Olympic Committee bio
/ref> She competed for the Chinese National Fencing Team in the

when she was 26 years old and she became the first East Asian person to ever win an Olympic Gold in the sport of fencing. She also competed in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

for China. Throughout her fencing career, she was noted for her toughness, once even continuing a match after being stabbed in the arm by a broken foil. She also struggled with kidney problems throughout her career. Luan eventually moved to

. She first came to Edmonton for the

1983 Summer Universiade The 1983 Summer Universiade, also known as the 1983 World University Games or XII Summer Universiade, took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between July 1 and 12, 1983. Over 2400 athletes from 73 countries participated. It was the first time Ca ...

and "fell in love with the city" so much that she moved to Edmonton in 1989 where she had three children. She started teaching at the

Edmonton Fencing Club Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and was fundamental in the club's growth expanding it from a mere 40 members in 1989 to over 400 members today. She became a Canadian citizen in 1994. She continued competing in fencing events in Canada and in the Fencing World Cup winning 4 Canadian National Championships in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999. In 2000, she qualified for her third

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despite her age at the time of 42. She eventually lost in the preliminary rounds. She actively trained at the EFC and fenced in numerous competitions in hopes of gaining a berth on the 2008 Canadian Olympic team, which she succeeded in accomplishing. Back in China, she is still often studied in textbooks, and has even had a movie made about her life. In 1999 she was named one of China's top 35 sports stars since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Luan qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a Canadian. On 11 August 2008, Jujie won her first round 13–9 win against the higher ranked Tunisian fencer Inès Boubakri, but ultimately had a 15–7 loss to Hungary's

Aida Mohamed Aida Mohamed (born 12 March 1976) is a Hungarian foil fencer, silver medallist at the 1993 World Championships and team gold medallist at the 2007 European Championships. She is the only Hungarian athlete in history to have competed at seven ...

, 32, who was ranked seventh in the world. In 2018, Luan placed first at the World Veteran Championships 60+ age group held in Livorno, Italy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luan, Jujie 1958 births Living people Canadian female foil fencers Chinese emigrants to Canada Canadian sportspeople of Chinese descent Chinese female foil fencers Fencers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Naturalized citizens of Canada Olympic fencers for Canada Olympic fencers for China Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic medalists in fencing Sportspeople from Nanjing Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists in fencing Asian Games silver medalists in fencing Fencers at the 1978 Asian Games Fencers at the 1986 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Summer World University Games medalists in fencing Nanjing Sport Institute alumni Fencers from Jiangsu FISU World University Games gold medalists for China 20th-century Canadian sportswomen 21st-century Canadian sportswomen 20th-century Chinese sportswomen