Lee Lai Shan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's sailing | |||
| Gold | 1996 Atlanta | Board (Minstral) | |
Lee Lai-Shan (Traditional Chinese: 李麗珊) (born September 5, 1970) is a gold-medalist professional windsurfer born in Hong Kong.
Contents |
[edit] Personal data
- Name: Lee Lai-Shan
- Gender: F
- Place of birth: Cheung Chau, Hong Kong
- Representing: Hong Kong, China in 2000 and 2004, Hong Kong in 1996 Olympic Games
- Height: 1.70m
- Weight: 58 kg
- Sport: Windsurfing
- Personal best: 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games - 1st boardsailing (first Olympic gold for Hong Kong team)
[edit] Background
Lee Lai-Shan was born in Cheung Chau and started windsurfing aged 12. She began to take part in windsurfing competitions at the age of 17 and joined the Hong Kong team at 19. Over the years, Lee won many international competitions, including the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Hong Kong, in the women's mistral boardsailing class, at the 1996 Olympics and the first champion in the Asian Games representing Hong Kong, China.
Lee was a recipient of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award” and the Bronze Bauhinia Star Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the international sports scene. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Social Sciences by The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Between 1952-1995, Hong Kong had never been able to win any medals at the Olympic Games. Lee Lai-Shan's victory at the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympics changed all this and added a glorious chapter to the region's 44-year Olympic history. Notably, the 1996 Summer Olympics was the last international sporting event that Hong Kong has participated in as a British colony, making Lee's medal the first and last medal that the Hong Kong team (not Hong Kong, China) won. After the Games she became a student of sports management at Australia's Canberra University in 1996. She was the first Hong Kong athlete to receive an Honorary Doctorate in social sciences from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in December 2002.
[edit] Personal life
She married long time partner Wong Tak-Sum (黃德森) and gave birth to a daughter, Haylie Wong (黃希皚), in August 2005.
[edit] High-ranking performances
- 1990 Beijing Asian Games - 2nd
- 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games - 11th
- 1993 World Championships - 1st
- 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games - 2nd
- 1995 World Championships - 3rd
- 1996 World Championships - 2nd
- 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games - 1st
- 1997 World Championships - 1st
- 1998 Bangkok Asian Games - 1st
- 2000 Sydney Olympic Games - 6th Mistral
- 2001 World Championships - 1st
- 2001 National Games - 1st Mistral
- 2002 Pusan Asian Games - 1st
- 2004 Athens Olympic Games - 4th Mistral
Reputed as the "Windsurfing Queen".
[edit] Honours
- 1994 - Named Best Athlete of Asia
- 1995-1996 & 1999-2000 - Named one of Hong Kong Sports Stars of the Year for four times
- 1995 - Selected Best Athlete in Hong Kong for 1994
- 1998 - Voted one of Hong Kong Top Ten Athletes for 1988-1998 by Hong Kong Sports Press Association
- 1999 - Selected one of China's Top Ten Athletes for 1998
- 1999 - Awarded Special Prize in the "Best Athletes of the Century" selection jointly organized by the Chinese Olympic Committee, Henry Fok Foundation and China Sports Press Association
[edit] Quotes
"Hong Kong athletes are not rubbish!" Her declaration to the media after winning gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
