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.