Gao Jiamin (; born June 26, 1966) is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete and taijiquan practitioner originally from China. She achieved an impressive competitive career throughout the 1990s and became known as the "Queen of Taiji". Gao has won 32 gold medals in a variety of competitions including the World Wushu Championships,

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

, East Asian Games, National Games of China, and various other international and national competitions.

Career

Early career

Gao began practicing wushu at the age of eight. In 1977, she was selected to train with the Fujian Wushu team and began to specialize in taijiquan under Zeng Nai Liang.

Competitive years: 1990-1997

Gao's first major international appearance was at the

1990 Asian Games The 1990 Asian Games also known as the XI Asiad and the 11th Asian Games ( zh, c=第十一届亚洲运动会, p=Dì shíyī jiè yàzhōu yùndònghuì), were held from September 22 to October 7, 1990, in Beijing, China. This was the first Asian Ga ...

in Beijing, China, where she won the silver medal in women's taijiquan. A year later, she competed at the

1991 World Wushu Championships The 1991 World Wushu Championships was the 1st edition of the World Wushu Championships. It was held in Beijing, China from October 12 to October 16, 1991. This was the first international competition held and organized by the International Wushu ...

also held in Beijing, and became the first world champion in women's taijiquan. She then won a gold medal at the 1992

Asian Wushu Championships The Asian Wushu Championships is a continental wushu championship hosted by the Wushu Federation of Asia (WFA), the official continental representative to the International Wushu Federation. The competition is open to the 37 member nations of the ...

in Seoul, Korea. A year later, Gao won the women's taijiquan gold medal at the

1993 East Asian Games The 1st East Asian Games were held in Shanghai, People's Republic of China from May 9 to May 18, 1993. The main stadium for the inaugural edition of the games was the Hongkou Football Stadium. Shanghai also hosted a number of sports-themed exhibit ...

in Shanghai, China. Following this, she became a member of the sports committee of the 8th

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

from 1993 to 1998. At the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games ( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from ...

in Hiroshima, Japan, Gao won the gold medal in women's taijiquan. A year later, Gao competed in the

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...

in Bangkok, Thailand, and won once again in women's taijiquan. In 1999, she announced her retirement from competition. As of the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

, she is the most prolific wushu athlete at the Asian Games, having won three medals with two of them being gold.

Post-retirement

After her competitive career, Gao became a deputy of Fujian Province in the 9th National People's Congress. She also became the Vice President of the Fujian Wushu Team and an advisor of the Macau Wushu Team. In 2000, she and her husband, Yu Shaowen, moved to the United States and settled in Portland, Oregon. They currently teach at the U.S. Wushu Center. Gao is also a coach of the USAWKF National Traditional Wushu Team and the National Taijiquan Team.

Awards

By the

Chinese Wushu Association The Chinese Wushu Association (CWA) is the governing body of wushu in all of its forms throughout China. Since its founding in 1958, it has been credited with the development and standardization of modern wushu and sanda throughout the world. ...

* (1995)

References

External links

Demonstration by Gao Jiamin
of the 24-form Taijiquan {{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Jiamin 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Fuzhou Chinese wushu practitioners Chinese tai chi practitioners Sportspeople from Fujian Chinese expatriates in the United States Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games gold medalists for China Wushu practitioners at the 1990 Asian Games Wushu practitioners at the 1994 Asian Games Wushu practitioners at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in wushu World champion wushu athletes