Leng Xueyan
{{short description|Chinese hurdler}}
{{family name hatnote|Leng|lang=Chinese}}
{{MedalTableTop|sport= Women's athletics|country_code=CHN|medals=
{{Medal|Competition|Asian Games}}
{{Medal|Gold |1994 Hiroshima|400 m hurdles}}
{{Medal|Gold |1994 Hiroshima|4×400 m relay}}
{{Medal|Competition|Asian Championships}}
{{Medal|Gold|1993 Manila|4×400 m}}
{{Medal|Silver|1993 Manila|400 m hurdles}}
}}
Leng Xueyan ({{zh|冷雪艳}}; born 1972){{ref label|nb|nb|nb}} is a Chinese former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres hurdles. She was the Asian Games champion in 1994 and runner-up at the Asian Athletics Championships in 1993. She set a personal best of 54.52 seconds in 1993. She was also an Asian Games gold medalist in the 4×400 metres relay.
Career
Leng's first international medal came at the 1990 Asian Junior Athletics Championships held in Beijing. She won the 400 m hurdles gold medal with a time of 57.79 seconds. This stood as the championship record for over a decade, finally being broken by another Chinese hurdler, Wang Xing, in 2004.[http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/asj.htm Asian Junior Championships]. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-11-14. She emerged as a senior athlete at the 1993 Chinese National Games with a performance of 54.52 seconds to claim third place in a race won in an Asian record by Han Qing.[http://www.jx918.net/Result/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=199 7th National Games medallists] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022654/http://www.jx918.net/Result/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=199 |date=2015-11-17 }} {{in lang|zh}}. jx918. Retrieved on 2013-03-30. This time ranked Leng tenth in the world for the event that season.[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=1570&Gender=W Leng Xueyan]. Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-11-14.
Her senior international debut followed a few months later at the 1993 Asian Athletics Championships. At the competition in Manila she led the Chinese challenge in the 400 m hurdles and took the silver medal behind Kazakhstan's Natalya Torshina.[http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/asc.htm Asian Championships]. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-11-14. In 1994 she won her first and only national title at the Chinese Athletics Championships with a time of 56.28 seconds.[http://www.gbrathletics.com/nc/chn.htm Chinese Championships]. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-11-14. This gained her selection for China at the Asian Games later that year.
Leng defeated both Torshina and Hsu Pei-Ching of Chinese Taipei to become the Asian Games champion in the 400 m hurdles. She was the third Chinese woman to win the title, after inaugural winner Chen Xin (諶欣) and Chen Juying, who had won the previous edition.[http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/asg.htm Asian Games]. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-11-14. Her winning time of 55.26 seconds was an Asian Games record which lasted for twenty years. It was finally bettered in 2014 by Kemi Adekoya (a Nigerian-born runner for Bahrain).Minshull, Phil (2014-09-30). [http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/asian-games-day-4-report Hadadi's discus hat-trick makes Iran happy at the Asian Games"]. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-11-14.[http://athleticsasia.org/index.php/k2-component/25-17th-asian-games-hurdle-races-new-champions-will-emerge 17th Asian Games – HURDLE RACES – New champions will emerge]. Asian Athletics Association. Retrieved on 2015-11-14. Originally, Leng had finished as runner-up to Han Qing, who was subsequently disqualified and banned for doping.[https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/chinese-hand-out-long-bans-1390360.html Chinese hand out long bans]. The Independent (1994-12-21). Retrieved on 2015-11-14. She ran the lead-off leg of the 4×400 metres relay in a Chinese team of Zhang Hengyun, Cao Chunying and Ma Yuqin and the quartet won the gold medal in a Games record of 3:29.11 minutes (Leng's second of the tournament).{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151117015219/https://www.incheon2014ag.org/Sports/Medals/Details?id=AT017N10&lang=en Women's relay medallists]}}. Incheon2014. Retrieved on 2014-10-04. Despite being only 22 years old, this was the last major medal of her career and 1994 was the last time she ranked in the top twenty athletes globally.[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=1570&Gender=W Xueyan Leng]. Brinkster Track and Field. Retrieved on 2015-11-14.
National titles
- Chinese Athletics Championships
- 400 m hurdles: 1994
International competitions
Notes
References
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External links
- {{sports links}}
{{Footer Asian Games Champions 400 metres hurdles Women}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leng, Xueyan}}
Category:Chinese female hurdlers
Category:Asian Games gold medalists for China
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Asian Games
Category:Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games
Category:Asian Athletics Championships winners
Category:Chinese Athletics Championships winners
Category:Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)