Gao Hong (; born 27 November 1967) is a Chinese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. She competed in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. She also played professionally for the

New York Power The New York Power was an American professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional soccer league for women in the United States. The team played at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondal ...

of the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...

in 2001 and 2002. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

she won the silver medal with the Chinese team. She played all five matches as goalkeeper. Four years later she was a member of the Chinese team which finished fifth in the

women's tournament A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

. She played all three matches as goalkeeper. Hong played as goalkeeper for the Chinese team at the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

. She is known to stare down her opponents.

Brandi Chastain Brandi Denise Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the United States national team from 1988 ...

recalled Hong's ability to psych her out. Chastain attributed Hong's ability to a lost goal, saying "She got in my head and as I approached the ball I was thinking more about her than about what I should be doing." Hong began playing soccer at 18 when her supervisor at the factory she worked at made her join the factory's team. After her experience playing for her factory's team, she continued to play on a city team. Later, she began to compete professionally. After the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Hong left China to play for

, an American professional soccer team in the

. During her inaugural season for New York Power, Gao Hong recorded 87 saves with a 1.11 goals against average (GAA)."New York Power". ''Sports Illustrated''. 11 April 2002. Retrieved 25 December 2013.

References

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profile
1967 births Living people Chinese women's footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of China Olympic silver medalists for China Olympic medalists in football Women's association football goalkeepers Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics China women's international footballers 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Asian Games gold medalists for China Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games New York Power players Women's United Soccer Association players Chinese expatriate footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Chinese expatriate sportspeople in the United States 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players {{PRChina-Olympic-medalist-stub