Who is the most successful skating coach in China in the past 12 years?

Li Yan should be a major candidate if there is a vote after helping multiple Chinese athletes win the short track speed skating and speed skating gold medals at four editions of Winter Olympic Games from 2010 to 2022.

Li was the first Chinese short track speed skating world champion when she was an athlete. Back in 1988, she won the women's 1,000-meter gold medal in Calgary, Canada, though at the time it was a demonstration sport.

Li resigned as the coach of the U.S. short track speed skating team in 2006 and took over the Chinese national team in 2006. From the 2010 Winter Olympics to the 2022 Winter Olympics, the following athletes won the gold under her coaching:

Wang Meng, gold medalist in the short track speed skating women's 500m, 1,000m and 3,000m relay at Vancouver 2010.

Zhou Yang, gold medalist in the short track speed skating women's 1,500m at Sochi 2014

Li Jianrou, gold medalist in the short track speed skating women's 500m at Sochi 2014

Wu Dajing, gold medalist in the short track speed skating men's 500m at PyeongChang 2018

Gao Tianyu, gold medalist in the speed skating men's 500m at Beijing 2022

Li Yan switched to speed skating in November 2021, but she still provided help to Gao. When Gao pocketed the men's 500m bronze medal in 2018, it was already a great achievement, but Li managed to take him further to win the gold of the event at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Saturday. Gao became the first Chinese male athlete to win the Olympic speed skating gold after the victory.