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Name: Li Hongli 
Date of Birth: December 26, 1980 in Yongzhou, Hunan province

Entry for the Beijing Games: Weightlifting, men's 77 kg class 

Career highlights: Gold medal, Doha Asian Games; Winner, 2005 world championships; Second, 2006 world championships 

There are countless reasons why a child takes up a sport, but Li Hongli, one of China's elite weightlifters, first touched an icy-cold barbell because he wanted his younger brother to eat more meat.

The then 12-year-old Li was drafted by a state-funded sports school in Xinhui, Guangdong province, after his farmer parents moved there from their hometown of Yongzhou in Hunan province.

 His family's annual income was just 1,500 yuan, and Li believed that joining the sports school - which offered free food and lodging - was the best way to ensure his eight-year-old brother enjoyed better meals as the financial burden of his family would be eased.

'The motivation was very simple. I hoped my brother could eat some meat,' said Li during the national weightlifting championships in Quanzhou, Fujian province, in April. 'To raise two boys was already a huge burden for my parents and they could not afford to buy us meat everyday, so I decided to join the school.'

Li might have saved some living expenses for his family but he also paid a price for his decision. He had to endure training in one of the most punishing sports, and deal with career-threatening injuries while others his age were enjoying their school days.

'I had some really tough days,' he recalled. 'Sometimes I thought of escaping from the training base ... that it was too much for a boy of 12 or 13.

'But then I would think of my brother and parents. I told myself that they could eat meat if I kept on lifting weights, so I stayed.'

 Li showed his talent early. He won three junior national championships in a row (1997-1999), and his biggest win came in 2001 when he beat Sydney Olympic gold medallist Zhan Xugang at the National Games.

Titles and glory followed as Li swept all major titles in Asia afterwards.

But just when everybody believed he would be heading to the Athens Olympics as a gold-medal favourite in 2004, Li was dropped from the team at the last minute for Zhan. National team head coach Ma Wenguang believed Li 'was too young to handle the pressure at the Games'. Zhan failed to register a result.

 Li said they were the darkest days in his career. But he won back his spot in the team when Zhan retired after the Athens Games.

He bagged a gold medal at the 2005 world championships, and finished second behind Turkey's Taner Sagir in the 2006 tournament. But it is a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics that is Li's ultimate goal.

'The Games mean so much to me, because it is my first Olympics and it will be staged in China,' he said. 'I will strive for a gold medal.'




No 26: Li Hongli