Luan Jujie (; born 14 July 1958) is a Chinese-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

fencer, born in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. At the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, she became the first Chinese athlete to win the gold medal in fencing. Since moving to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada in 1985, she has become a Canadian citizen. At the age of 50, Luan represented Canada at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. She has also participated in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

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 ...

Career

Being an outstanding athlete in her youth, she had already done well in track and badminton before switching to fencing. She started fencing at the age of 17 and in no time joined the national team in the same year. Luan quickly rose in the international ranking capturing 2nd in the 1978 World Junior Championships (first Asian athlete to enter since 1901) and golds at the 1979 Chinese National Games, 1983 International Women's Fencing Tournament (first East Asian fencer to ever win an international event) and 1984 World Championships.Chinese Olympic Committee bio
/ref> She competed for the Chinese National Fencing Team in the

when she was 26 years old and she became the first East Asian person to ever win an Olympic Gold in the sport of fencing. She also competed in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

for China. Throughout her fencing career, she was noted for her toughness, once even continuing a match after being stabbed in the arm by a broken foil. She also struggled with kidney problems throughout her career. Luan eventually moved to

. She first came to Edmonton for the

1983 Summer Universiade The 1983 Summer Universiade, also known as the 1983 World University Games or XII Summer Universiade, took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between July 1 and 12, 1983. Over 2400 athletes from 73 countries participated. It was the first time Can ...

and "fell in love with the city" so much that she moved to Edmonton in 1989 where she had three children. She started teaching at the

Edmonton Fencing Club Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and was fundamental in the club's growth expanding it from a mere 40 members in 1989 to over 400 members today. She became a Canadian citizen in 1994. She continued competing in fencing events in Canada and in the Fencing World Cup winning 4 Canadian National Championships in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999. In 2000, she qualified for her third

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

despite her age at the time of 42. She eventually lost in the preliminary rounds. She actively trained at the EFC and fenced in numerous competitions in hopes of gaining a berth on the 2008 Canadian Olympic team, which she succeeded in accomplishing. Back in China, she is still often studied in textbooks, and has even had a movie made about her life. In 1999 she was named one of China's top 35 sports stars since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Luan has qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Team Canada. On 11 August 2008, Jujie won her first round 13–9 win against the higher ranked Tunisian fencer

Inès Boubakri Inès Boubakri ( ar, إيناس بوبكري; born 28 December 1988) is a Tunisian foil fencer. She is a four-time Olympian, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and is a member of Association sportive de Bourg-la-Reine in France, ...

, but ultimately had a 15–7 loss to Hungary's

Aida Mohamed Aida Mohamed (born 12 March 1976) is a Hungarian foil fencer, silver medallist at the 1993 World Championships and team gold medallist at the 2007 European Championships. She is the only Hungarian athlete in history to have competed at seven ...

, 32, who was ranked seventh in the world. Luan's Olympic dream ends
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luan, Jujie 1958 births Living people Canadian female foil fencers Chinese emigrants to Canada Canadian sportspeople of Chinese descent Chinese female foil fencers Fencers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Naturalized citizens of Canada Olympic fencers of Canada Olympic fencers of China Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic medalists in fencing Sportspeople from Nanjing Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in fencing Fencers at the 1978 Asian Games Fencers at the 1986 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Universiade medalists in fencing Nanjing Sport Institute alumni Fencers from Jiangsu Universiade gold medalists for China