Li Jinzhe (; born 1 September 1989) is a Chinese

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specialises in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. His personal best is 8.47 metres, set in 2014. This gives him the Chinese record long jump. He was the 2009 Asian Champion in the event and represented China at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

. He became regional champion for a second time at the

2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships The 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships was the fifth edition of the international indoor athletics (sport), athletics event between Asian nations. It took place at the Vocational and Technical College Athletics Hall in Hangzhou, China, betw ...

and made his Olympic debut at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

later that year.

Career

Born in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Li began competing in 2007 and was runner-up behind

Su Xiongfeng Su Xiongfeng (, born 21 March 1987) is a PR China, Chinese track and field athlete who competes in the long jump. He became the Asian champion at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships, Asian Championships and was the silver medallist at ...

at that year's

Chinese City Games The China National Youth Games ( is a quadrennial multi-sport event for Chinese athletes under the age of twenty-one. It was first held in 1988 as the China City Games. The competition switched to be held the year before the Summer Olympics in th ...

– the country's foremost junior competition. He gained his first international medal (a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

) at the

2008 Asian Junior Athletics Championships The 2008 Asian Junior Athletics Championships was the 13th edition of the international athletics competition for Asian under-20 athletes, organised by the Asian Athletics Association. It took place from 12 to 15 July at the Madya Stadium in Jaka ...

. He cleared eight metres for the first time at the 2009 Chinese Championships in May, where his jump of 8.08 m brought him his first national title. Li was selected to represent China in the long jump at the

and narrowly missed out on qualification into the final. At the 11th Chinese National Games in October he set a personal best of 8.18 m and came second behind Zhang Xiaoyi. He remained in good form, jumping 8.16 m the following month to win at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009. Results Men Track Field Women Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * (1) * (77) * (22) * ...

. He continued competing into mid-December and built upon his Asian title with a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

2009 East Asian Games The 2009 East Asian Games, officially known as the V East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that hosted by Hong Kong, between 5 December and 13 December 2009. A total of 2,377 athletes from 9 east asia, East Asian national compet ...

. He featured indoors in Germany at the start of 2010, setting an indoor best of 7.98 m for second place behind

Salim Sdiri Salim Sdiri (born 26 October 1978) is a French long jumper of Tunisian descent. His personal best is 8.42 metres, achieved in June 2009 at Pierre-Bénite, which is the current French national record. He is also the French national record holder ...

at the BW-Bank Meeting and then turning the tables on the Frenchman to win at the Sparkassen Cup. He attended the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, but failed to make it past the qualifying round. In the outdoor season he placed top three at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and ...

and the

Rieti Meeting The Rieti Meeting is an annual athletics event at the Stadio Raul Guidobaldi in Rieti, Italy that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, it is now part of the IAAF World Challenge. It was firs ...

on the athletics circuit. Li attempted to defend his national long jump title at the Chinese Championships in August, but was beaten into second by Su Xiongfeng. He ended the year with a fourth-place finish at the

2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 200 ...

, representing the Asia-Pacific team. Li took another victory at the Sparkassen Cup in January 2011, defeating Sdiri and

Dwight Phillips Dwight Phillips (born October 1, 1977) is an American former athlete and a four-time world champion in the long jump. He was the 2004 Olympic champion in the event. His personal best of 8.74 meters, set in 2009, makes him the joint fifth ...

. His best jump that year (8.02 m) came early in the season in

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

that June.Jinzhe Li
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-05-25. His performances were lower than in previous years and he did not defend his title at the

2011 Asian Athletics Championships The 19th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Kobe, Japan between July 7–10, 2011 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium. The tournament had 507 athletes from forty Asian nations competing in the 42 track and field events over the four- ...

, managing only fifth place. He performed better the year after, taking the gold at the

and winning all but one of his outings on the Chinese and Asian Grand Prix circuits. He cleared 8.25 m in

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

. He was chosen for the Chinese team for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and competed in the qualifying rounds only. An indoor best of 8.11 m came at the start of 2013, when he took third at the

XL Galan The Globen Galan is an annual indoor athletics event held in February at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting was first held in 1990 and from 2000 to 2010 known as GE Galan, because General Electric was the official title sponsor. ...

meet in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Li jumped a new personal best of 8.34 m at the 2013

Shanghai Golden Grand Prix The Shanghai Diamond League is an annual athletics event at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China, as part of the Diamond League. The meeting was founded as the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2005. The meet assumed its current name in 2010. Fr ...

, defeating a quality field including the last three Olympic champions (Phillips,

Irving Saladino Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda (born January 23, 1983) is a Panamanian former long jumper. He was Olympic champion, having won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and remains Panama's first and only Olympic gold medalist. He was world champion in the ...

and

Greg Rutherford Gregory James Rutherford Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 November 1986) is a retired British people, British track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics, World a ...

) as well as

Mitchell Watt Mitchell Watt (born 25 March 1988) is an Australian track & field athlete. His main event is the long jump and holds the current Oceania record for the long jump – 8.54m. He was the first ever Australian long jump medalist at a World Champio ...

and

Aleksandr Menkov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Menkov (, born 7 December 1990 in Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai) is a Russian athlete who competes in the long jump. Career Menkov set a personal best of 8.16 metres in Kemerovo in June 2009. He won the gold medal at the ...

. He won his hometown meet, the inaugural

IAAF World Challenge Beijing IAAF World Challenge Beijing is an annual track and field competition held in Beijing, China, in May. First held in 2013, it takes place at the Beijing National Stadium, the venue for the Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics. It is part of the IA ...

at the

Bird's Nest Stadium The National Stadium (), the Bird's Nest (), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary seating), broke g ...

, a few days later with a mark of 8.31 m. In the early morning of March 9, 2014, Li Jinzhe missed the chance to win the World Indoor Championships in Sopot. He was reversed by Brazilian star Da Silva's final jump of 8.28 meters, and finally won a silver medal with a score of 8.23 meters. In the early morning of June 29, at the long jump special competition held in Bad Langensalza, Germany, Li Jinzhe won the championship with a score of 8.47 meters in the sixth jump, and broke Lao Jianfeng's record in May 1997. The national record of 8.40 meters was set on the 28th. On September 30, in the men's long jump final of the Incheon Asian Games, Li Jinzhe won the gold medal with a time of 8.01 meters. Incheon's victory also made up for the regret left by the Guangzhou Asian Games.

Competition record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Jinzhe Living people 1989 births Chinese male long jumpers Athletes from Beijing Olympic athletes for China Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for China Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for China Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Indoor Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Diamond League winners Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)