Xing Huina (; born February 25, 1984, in Hanting,

Weifang Weifang ( zh, s=潍坊, t=濰坊, p=Wéifāng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

) is a former 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 An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

. She is widely recognised as the most successful Asian female runner of all time, after winning the Athens olympic gold medal in 2004. In a relatively short elite career that effectively ended before the age of 25, her most significant achievement was to win a shock gold in the 2004 Olympic Games in the women's 10,000 m at the age of just 20. Narrowly missing the podium twice in the 2005 World Championships in the following year, the lifetime ban for her coach Wang Dexian for doping his athletes in 2006, and recurrent injuries, derailed her following years. A move to marathon running failed to revitalise her career, and Xing effectively retired in 2009.

Early life

Xing was born to family of farmers in Hanting,

. Standing 1.66 m tall and weighing 50 kg (110 lb), she began training at Weifang City Sport School, coached by Chi Yuzhai. She joined the Shandong Sport Technology Institute in 1999, coached by Yin Yanqin.

Career

She was selected into national team in 2002 after running 4:10.43 in 1500 m and 14:56.15 in 5000 m in 2001 Chinese National Games. In national team, she was coached by Wang Dexian. In 2002, she won bronze medal in 10,000 m in Busan Asian Games with 31:42.36. She was the first Asian athlete to be crowned the Olympic champion in this competition. In 2003, she came in 7th and broke the World Junior Record (30:31.55) in the memorable race of 10,000m at Saint-Denis

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. The record was broken by

Linet Masai Linet Chepkwemoi Masai (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletic ...

of Kenya at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Xing won the gold medal in the

10,000 m 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 ...

race in the track and field competition at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

with 30:24.36. She overtook Ethiopian Ejagayehu Dibaba in the final straight to break the monopoly of Ethiopians, becoming the first Asian to ever have won an Olympic gold medal in women's 10,000 metres. In the 2005 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, she placed 5th in women's 5000 m (14:43.64) and 4th in women's 10,000 m (30:27.18). Both races were won by Ethiopian runners. She decided not to compete at the

2009 National Games of China The 11th National Games of China were held in various cities in Shandong from October 16 to October 28, 2009. Represented were 33 sports, 43 disciplines and 362 events, including 4 winter sports which were held in Shenyang, Changchun and Qingdao ...

in 2009 due to a persistent leg injury. The combination of the injury and her long period away from competition raised speculation that her professional career was finished at the age of 26.

Personal bests

*1500 m: 4:09.01 (2003) *5000 m: 14:43.64 (2005) *10,000 m: 30:24.36 (2004) Her unofficial 1500 m personal best is 4:03.00, which was set at the 2005 National Games of China. However, the result was nullified because her opponent, Liu Qing filed a complaint of being deliberately blocked by Xing when Liu tried overtaking Xing.Jalava, Mirko (2005-10-19)
Xing Huina disqualified in the 1500m, teenager claims men's 20km Walk - Chinese National Games Day 3 report

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2010-08-17.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Xing, Huina 1984 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Chinese female long-distance runners Olympic athletes for China Olympic gold medalists for China People from Weifang Runners from Shandong Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Chinese Athletics Championships winners Asian Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)