Li Xuemei
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 China
|
| Born |
1 February 1977 Guanghan, Sichuan |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 56 kg (123 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 100 metres, 200 metres |
| Coached by | Zhang Rongwei |
Li Xuemei (Chinese: 李雪梅; pinyin: Lǐ Xuěméi; born February 1, 1977 in Guanghan, Sichuan) is a retired Chinese sprinter. She is the fastest Asian woman in history with a personal best time of 10.79 in the 100m and a 22.01 in the 200m, both ran during the National Games of China.
Coming from a modest family, she started practising athletics in 1988 at the Guanghan Amateur Sports School.
At the age of 18, Li easily won the 100m (11.36) and the 200m (22.93, national junior record) at the Chinese City Games, a quadrennial competition for athletes under 21.
One year later, she took part to the World Junior Championships in both events and was eliminated in the first round.
In June 1997, during the Chinese Championships held in Chengdu, Li broke the Chinese record on 100m in 11.05 s and won the 200m in 22.60 s, setting a new personal best in the process. She was part of the Sichuan 4 x 100 m team which broke the Chinese record in 43.13 seconds.
She was selected for the World Championships in August, where she was eliminated in the second round both on 100m and 200m. However she broke Chen Zhaojing's Asian record in the 200m heats, clocking a strong 22.44s. Together with Pei Fang, Yan Jiankui and Liu Xiaomei, they managed to reach the 4 x 100m final, where they finished eighth and last.
Two months later, Li participated to the National Games of China in Shanghai, representing Sichuan. On the 100m event, she won her heat in 10.90s, breaking her own Asian and national record. She crossed the line in 11.03s to qualify for the final, beating the Guangxi experimented sprinter Tian Yumei and one of Sichuan's top runner Li Yali, who both set new personal bests.
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