Luan Jujie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Women's Fencing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | Foil | |
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Luan.
Luan Jujie (Simplified Chinese:栾菊杰 Hanyu pinyin: Lúan Jújíe, born July 7, 1958[1] in Nanjing, China) is a Chinese fencer. Being an outstanding athlete in her youth, she had already done well in track and badminton before switching to fencing.[2] She started fencing at the age of 17 and quickly joined the national team in the same year. Jujie quickly rose in the international ranking capturing 2nd in the 1978 World Junior Championships (first Asian athlete to enter since 1901) and golds at the 1979 Chinese National Games, 1983 International Women's Fencing Tournament (first East Asian fencer to ever win an international event) and 1984 World Championships.[3] She competed for the Chinese National Fencing Team in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles when she was 26 years old and she became the first and only East Asian person to ever win an Olympic Gold in the sport of fencing. She also competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics for China.
Throughout her fencing career, she was noted for her toughness, once even continuing a match after being stabbed in the arm by a broken foil.[4] She also struggled with kidney problems throughout her career.
Jujie eventually moved to Edmonton, Alberta. She first came to Edmonton for the 1983 Summer Universiade and apparently "fell in love with the city"[5] so much that she moved here with her three children in 1989. She started teaching at the Edmonton Fencing Club and was fundamental in the club's growth expanding it from a mere 40 members in 1989 to over 160 members today. She became a Canadian citizen in 1994.
She continued competing in fencing events in Canada and in the Fencing World Cup winning 4 Canadian National Championships in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999. In 2000, she qualified for her third Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia despite her age at the time of 42. She eventually lost in the preliminary rounds.[6]
Back in China, she is still often studied in textbooks, and has even had a movie made about her life. In 1999 she was named one of China's top 35 sports stars since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.[7]
