Chinese short track speed skating icon Yang Yang was elected as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) vice president on Thursday. She is the first Chinese athlete holding this job. But, even before this appointment, she was already been a living legend.
Born in 1975, Yang started short track speed skating training at the age of 13. She won her first national championship in 1991 and four years later, joined the Chinese national team.
In the following 11 years, Yang claimed a total of 59 world titles, more than any Chinese speed skater. The world knew her name when Yang won the women's 3,000-meter relay gold medal at the 1995 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Gjøvik, Norway, and said goodbye to her when she took the women's 1,000-meter bronze at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Yang Yang wins the women's 500-meter short track speed skating gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, February 16, 2002. /VCG Photo
In her peak condition, Yang was insuperable around the world. From 1997 to 2002, Yang pocketed 25 titles at five World Championships, including six straight overall titles.
Yang made significant contributions to Chinese short track speed skating by winning the women's 500-meter gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, U.S., breaking the 22-year record of zero title holder from China. She also won the women's 1,000-meter championship at the event. For years later in Turin, Yang became the flag bearer for Team China at the opening ceremony and she was the first women to exercise that duty.
Yang Yang carries the Olympic Flame as the first torch bearer in China in Sanya of south China's Hainan Province, May 4, 2008. /VCG Photo
Yang announced her retirement after Turin at the age of 31 but, unlike many athletes, she continued on the path to glory. She finished her education at the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University, worked as hostess and commentator at China Central Television (CCTV), then joined the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, and was the first torch bearer in China for the 2008 Summer Olympics. She participated in China's preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics and was elected as the first female council member of the International Skating Union (ISU).
Yang's success is not limited to her career. She got married in 2008 and now is mother to a son and a daughter.
When she begins her term in 2020, she will again meet new challenges but also add another exciting chapter to her life and career.