Fans baffled as ‘patriotic’ Chinese diving champion comes out of retirement to represent Australia
- Li Shixin made Chinese fans ‘proud’ in 2011 when he sang national anthem on podium after technical fault stopped music being played
- Other fans on Chinese social media sympathetic towards former two-time world champion
Former two-time world champion Li Shixin was once hailed as a “patriotic” diver for singing the China national anthem at an awards ceremony. But he is coming out of retirement to represent Australia in next month’s World Championships.
The 31-year-old from Guangdong stepped down from the national team in 2014, one year after he successfully defended his 1m springboard world title in Barcelona.
However his name was among Diving Australia’s team of 12, released on social media this week, heading to the 2019 worlds in Gwangju, South Korea.
Li said on his Weibo account that he noticed there had been a lot of discussion about his decision but he called for understanding.
“There are some positive and some negative reports on my decision, but everyone has the right to choose his future,” he said.
Just last week, Li won the 3m synchronised springboard with Matthew Carter at the 2019 Australian Open Championships in Adelaide. The event served as the qualifiers to the worlds.