Li Lingwei

In China, Li Lingwei is referred to as the “Badminton Queen”, a well deserved title. As a player, she won three World Championship titles (1983, 1989: singles; 1985: doubles), making her one of only three players to have won world titles both in singles and doubles. She also won three consecutive Uber Cups (1984, 1986, 1988) with the Chinese team. She never competed at the Olympics, since badminton was not added to the Olympic programme until 1992. She was inducted into the IBF Hall of Fame in 1998, together with her doubles partner, Han Aiping, and named one of the 50 greatest athletes in the history of the People’s Republic of China (1999).

After retirement, Li transitioned to coaching. In 1993, she became the head coach of women’s singles of Chinense national team. One of her major achievements during the coaching career was guiding Chinese women’s singles players to sweep the top four places at the 1997 World Championships. In 1998, she left coaching due to a strained relationship with Li Yongbo, the chief coach of the national team.

Li then moved into sports administration and achieved further success. She was elected as a member of the IOC in 2012, the vice president of the COC in 2016, and Executive Board member of the IOC in 2024.