Li Qi (; born 30 October 1983 in

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

) is a Chinese

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player who competed for China at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Li is a left-handed pitcher, which the ''

China Times The ''China Times'' (, abbr. ) is a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pa ...

'' said made her pitches hard for batters to hit. Her pitches could reach up to . She pitched at the 2002 Asian Games softball competition. Li competed for the Chinese team in the 2004 Olympic softball competition, where they finished fourth. The ''

Shanghai Morning Post ''Shanghai Morning Post'' (Chinese: 新闻晨报; Pinyin: Xīnwén Chénbào) is a newspaper published by ''Jiefang Daily'' Newspaper Group since January 1, 1999. The daily circulation of this tabloid newspaper is around 500,000 copies per day. ...

'' in 2005 said, "Li Qi is currently recognized as one of the best pitchers in China after Wang Lihong." Like the other Chinese women's softball players on her team, Li made a monthly income of ¥1,000 (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

) in 2006 so needed to be frugal according to the ''

Yangtse Evening Post The ''Yangtse Evening Post'' or ''Yangtze Evening Post'' (), also known as ''Yangtse Evening News'' or ''Yangtze Evening News'', is a Nanjing-based Chinese language state newspaper published in China. It is one of world's most circulated newspap ...

''. The team had a yearly

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

at Haigeng () in Jinning, Kunming. When each training session ended, Li would ask her Beijing teammates to visit

market stall A market stall or a booth is a structure used by merchants to display and house their merchandise in a street market, fairs and conventions. Some commercial marketplaces, including market squares or flea markets, may permit more permanent stal ...

s outside the

Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperor of China, Emperors of the Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasties for ...

to purchase pairs of softball socks for ¥5 ($) each on the

grey market A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term " parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market pr ...

. Before saying goodbye to them, she would always remind them, "Don't forget to bargain." Li pitched in the 2008 Olympic softball competition. By striking out 10 batters, she had the third most strikeouts at the Olympics (an American pitcher and a Canadian pitchers ranked before her). Her

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) ranked fifth during the Olympics. Of all Chinese players at the time, she had the smallest ERA. The team finished in sixth place. For her performance during the Olympics, the city of

awarded her a bonus of ¥40,000 ($). Several Japanese softball teams asked her to become a member of their team when she was still on the

China women's national softball team The China women's national softball team is the national team of the People's Republic of China. It is governed by the Chinese Softball Association and takes part in international softball competitions. They are ranked number four according to the ...

but she declined. Li pitched during 2010 Asian Games softball competition, where her team received a silver medal. She competed for the

team at the 2010 Straits Cup () in Taiwan, the first time she had visited the country. While pitching against the

National Taiwan University of Sport The National Taiwan University of Sport (NTUS; ) is a public university specialized in sports in Taichung, Taiwan, and a member of the National University System of Taiwan. NTUS once been merged with the National College of Physical Education ...

, Li had 10 strikeouts. During the 2013 Straits Cup held in Taiwan, Li defeated the team from

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and Lin ...

in five innings by striking out nine batters. She lost the championship game to the

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

team after making numerous defense errors. During the softball competition at the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

, she was the pitcher and the team received a bronze medal. Li competed at the

2017 National Games of China The 13th National Games of China were held in Tianjin and Luoyang, Henan, from August to September 2017. Host bidding In the 13th National Games bidding process, Shaanxi, Tianjin, Zhejiang and Hubei were the candidates. Tianjin was announced as h ...

2017 Asian Women's Softball Championship The 2017 Asian Women's Softball Championship was an international softball tournament which featured twelve nations and was held from 29 November–4 December 2017 in Taichung, Taiwan. The top five teams qualified for the 2018 Asian Games while t ...

and the

2018 Women's Softball World Championship The 2018 Women's Softball World Championship was an international softball competition held in Chiba, Japan, from 2 August to 12 August. It was the 16th edition of the tournament, and the third edition to be sanctioned by the World Baseball Softb ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Qi 1983 births Living people Chinese softball players Olympic softball players for China Sportspeople from Dalian Softball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Softball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in softball Softball players at the 2002 Asian Games Softball players at the 2006 Asian Games Softball players at the 2010 Asian Games Softball players at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games