Wei Li (; born 29 June 1972) is a Chinese former

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

. She was a medallist at the

1994 IAAF World Cup The 7th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held between 9 and 11 September 1994, at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in Lond ...

and the

1997 East Asian Games The 2nd East Asian Games were held in Busan, South Korea from May 10 to May 19, 1997. Originally, the second edition of the East Asian Games was to be held in Pyongyang, North Korea, in September 1995. However, North Korea dropped the games due ...

. She represented China at the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, the

1997 World Championships in Athletics The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the World Athletics, International Amateur Athletic Federation, were held at the Olympic Stadium (Athens), Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between 1 and 10 August 1997. In this event ...

and the

1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 23 March 1997. The races were held at the Parco del Valentino in Torino, Italy. A report of the event was given in ''The New York Times'', in the Herald, and for the IAAF. Com ...

. She was twice a Chinese national champion.

Career

Wei first came to prominence at nation level with a

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

win at the

Chinese Athletics Championships The Chinese Athletics Championships ( zh, 全国田径锦标赛) is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the People's Republic of China. It is organised by Chinese Athletic Association, China's nation ...

in 1992. She achieved a personal best of 31.28.83 minutes for the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

at the 1993 Chinese National Games and even though this only ranked her seventh in the race,Wei Li

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2016-04-22. such was the quality she placed ninth on the global rankings that year (the winner

Wang Junxia Wang Junxia (; born 9 January 1973) is a Chinese former long-distance runner who is the current world record holder at 3,000 meters. She also held the world record for the 10,000 meters for 23 years, between 1993 and ...

broke the world record). She won her second national title at the 1993 Chinese Championships, taking the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. At the start of the 1994 season she was runner-up at the

Chiba International Cross Country The Chiba International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Chiba, Japan, in mid-February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Ch ...

and won her leg of the

Yokohama International Women's Ekiden The Yokohama International Women's Ekiden held in Yokohama, Japan, was one of the prominent ekiden is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on Road running, roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times ...

. She won the only global medal of her career at the

that September, taking the 10,000 m bronze behind

Elana Meyer Elana Meyer, Order of Ikhamanga, OIS, (born 10 October 1966) is a South African long-distance runner who won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 metres event. Meyer set the 15 kilometres road running List of African reco ...

and

Fernanda Ribeiro Maria Fernanda Moreira Ribeiro, GCIH (; born 23 June 1969), is a long-distance runner born in Penafiel, Portugal. The pinnacle of her career was at the 1996 Summer Olympics when she won the women's 10000 m gold medal, establishing a new Olympi ...

. In 1995 she came third in the 10,000 m at the national championships and came in second place at the Sanyo Women's Road Race and her leg of the Chiba International Ekiden. After taking second in the 5000 m and fourth in the 10,000 m at the 1996 Chinese Championships, she was selected for China at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Her compatriot Wang Junxia went on to win the title but Wei failed to reach the final round. Three international appearances came for Wei in the 1997 season. Beginning with the

, she placed 41st to lead the Chinese women's team to 13th place. After a successful tour of Japan, winning at the Osaka Grand Prix, Shizuoka International Meet and

Oda Memorial is one of the international athletic games, which takes place every April at Hiroshima Big Arch stadium in Hiroshima, Japan. In 1967, this game began to commemorate the feat of Mikio Oda, a native of Hiroshima and the first Japanese Olympic gold ...

, she became China's choice for the

East Asian Games The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council ...

– she was a silver medallist in the 5000 m, having narrowly lost to Harumi Hiroyama.East Asian Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-22. In her last major outing, she placed ninth in the 5000 m final at the

.Li Wei
IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-04-22. She failed to perform well at the 1997 Chinese National Games and shortly after made her debut over the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

distance, taking ninth at the Dalian Marathon with a time of 2:45:49 hours. In her last outing for China, she was seventh on her leg of the Chiba Ekiden. Her last high national placing was third in the 5000 m at the 1999 Chinese Championships. She retired in early 2000, at the age of 27.

International competitions

National titles

**1500 m: 1993 **5000 m: 1992

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wei, Li Living people 1972 births Chinese female long-distance runners Olympic athletes for China Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for China Chinese Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Chinese sportswomen