Chen Yanqing
Encyclopedia
Chen Yanqing ' onMouseout='HidePop("27763")' href="/topics/Xishan_District,_Wuxi">Xishan
, Wuxi
, Jiangsu
) is a Chinese weightlifter who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
and the 2008 Summer Olympics
. She won the gold medal in the 58 kg class in both competitions, making her the first woman to win gold medals in weightlifting in two consecutive Olympics.
Chen won her first gold medal in 1995 at the Junior Asian Women Weightlifting Championship, and another at a 1998 world championship. She was slated to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics
but was scratched from the Chinese Olympic lineup for strategic reasons a short time before the games began. She has also won the National Games and East Asia Games and set the world record in her weight class in the snatch and lift in 2006.
on an island near Suzhou
, two hours west of Shanghai
. Her parents are both fruit
growers. In 1989 her parents sent her to a state athletic school after coach and former weightlifter Cao Xinmin discovered her at a sports match in Suzhou. Her parents have mixed emotions about her career in weightlifting, but her earnings have helped raise her family's standard of living.
After she was scratched from the 2000 Summer Olympics, she retired in 2001 to study business at Soochow University
in Suzhou
. She returned from retirement to compete in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.
Xishan District, Wuxi
Xishan District is an administrative district of Wuxi City in Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.With a total area of , the district's 2007 population was 400,000.-Administrative divisions:...
, Wuxi
Wuxi
Wuxi is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou across the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south...
, Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
) is a Chinese weightlifter who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
and the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
. She won the gold medal in the 58 kg class in both competitions, making her the first woman to win gold medals in weightlifting in two consecutive Olympics.
Chen won her first gold medal in 1995 at the Junior Asian Women Weightlifting Championship, and another at a 1998 world championship. She was slated to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
but was scratched from the Chinese Olympic lineup for strategic reasons a short time before the games began. She has also won the National Games and East Asia Games and set the world record in her weight class in the snatch and lift in 2006.
Personal life
Chen was born to a poor rural family who live in a small farming village called XishanXishan District, Wuxi
Xishan District is an administrative district of Wuxi City in Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.With a total area of , the district's 2007 population was 400,000.-Administrative divisions:...
on an island near Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
, two hours west of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. Her parents are both fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
growers. In 1989 her parents sent her to a state athletic school after coach and former weightlifter Cao Xinmin discovered her at a sports match in Suzhou. Her parents have mixed emotions about her career in weightlifting, but her earnings have helped raise her family's standard of living.
After she was scratched from the 2000 Summer Olympics, she retired in 2001 to study business at Soochow University
Soochow University (Suzhou)
Soochow University , colloquially known in Chinese as Suda is a university in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The school is part of the Chinese Ministry of Education's Project 211, and a Jiangsu provincial key comprehensive university.-History:...
in Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
. She returned from retirement to compete in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.