Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Former Chinese diving world champion Li Shixin fulfils dream – for Australia
- At 33, Li Shixin will be making his Olympic debut despite being world champion for China in 2011 and 2013
- He was once hailed a ‘patriotic’ athlete with spontaneous rendition of Chinese national anthem at an awards ceremony
At 33, Li, who captured back-to-back 1m springboard golds at the 2011 and 2013 world championships, will also become the oldest member of the Australian Olympic diving team.
He won the Olympic nomination trial in the men’s 3m springboard in Sydney last week before being named in the seven-strong squad for Tokyo. Esther Qi, competing in the women’s 3m springboard, is another former Chinese diver in the Australian team.
Li last represented Guangdong at the 2017 China National Games in Tianjin after his retirement from the national team. Two years later, he became a naturalised Australian citizen and went to the 2019 world championships in Gwangju, South Korea, although he failed to win a medal in the 1m and 3m springboard events.
After his selection for the Tokyo Games, Li said in a social media post that he never stopped pursuing his sporting dreams and the Olympic Games was his main goal.
“If you have a dream, you must dare to chase [it],” said Li, who was unable to make it to the Olympics even during his prime with Team China, the world’s leading diving power.
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Many fans in China still support Li, although the diver is no longer a Chinese athlete.
One fan said in a Sina Sports posting that garnered many likes: “As an athlete who has spent many years in the international arena, Li’s biggest dream is to compete at the Olympic Games. Since he cannot accomplish this target with Team China which has so many quality divers, we should not blame him when he makes it with another country. In fact, Li has never done any harm to China and his presence in the Olympic Games will not pose any threat to our medal hopes.”
Fans baffled as ‘patriotic’ Chinese diving champion comes out of retirement to represent Australia
The Guangdong native was the subject of heated debate in Chinese social media when he suddenly became an Australian diver two years ago in a move that shocked many in the mainland.
The diver was once considered a “patriotic” Chinese athlete after his actions at a Diving Grand Prix in Russia in 2011.
At the Penza leg of the series, Zhang Xinhua and Li finished first and second in the 3m springboard respectively, but a technical problem meant the China national anthem could not be played at the awards ceremony.
While standing on the podium, Li suddenly burst into a rendition of March of the Volunteers and won the hearts of many fans in China, who said he had made his country proud in front of the world.
Many fans, however, could not understand his decision to move to Australia when Li said: “There are some positive and some negative reports on my decision, but everyone has the right to choose his future.”
Also in the Australian squad is Melissa Wu, who is of Chinese descent through her father. She will be making her fourth appearance at the Olympics after winning a silver medal in the women’s synchronised platform at the 2008 Beijing Games. She was the youngest ever Australian diver to win an Olympic medal at the age of 16.
