Li Jiajun ' onMouseout='HidePop("13181")' href="/topics/Changchun">Changchun

Changchun

Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...

, Jilin

Jilin

Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...

) is a Chinese

Chinese people

The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 short track speed skater

Short track speed skating

Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a circumference of 111.12 m...

 who has won 5 Olympic medals - two silver and three bronze. He has been a two-time Overall World Champion

World Short Track Speed Skating Championships

The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships are a senior international short track speed skating competition held once a year to determine the World Champion in individual distances, relays and Overall Classification...

 for 1999 and 2001.

In 1998 Winter Olympics

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

, he led for much of the way during the final race of the 1000m, but was edged out at the finish-line by Korea's Kim Dong-Sung

Kim Dong-Sung

Kim Dong-Sung is a former South Korean short track speed skater. He won a gold medal in 1000m race and silver medal in 5000m relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics...

, to win a silver medal. He also won a bronze medal in 5000m relay.

He participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics

2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

 at Salt Lake City, making the finals of the 1000 meter short course event but failed to win a medal after being disqualified following a collision with Apolo Ohno, which caused Ahn Hyun-Soo and Mathieu Turcotte

Mathieu Turcotte

Mathieu Turcotte is a Canadian athlete. He was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec.Turcotte rose to fame within Canada, upon winning the bronze in the men's 1000 m in the short track speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics, with a time of 1:30.563 , and winning a gold as part...

 to also fall and allowed Australian Steve Bradbury to claim the gold medal.

During the opening ceremony

Opening ceremony

An opening ceremony is the official opening of a building or event. The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are huge events involving thousands of participants and watched by a massive worldwide audience. On a much smaller scale, some ceremonies mark the opening of a...

 of the 2007 Asian Winter Games, Li was given the honour to light the torch. As of August 18, 2006, he has officially retired from short track speedskating. According to Li, he will go to study in Canada later this year and continue his work as the assistant coach for the national team.