Meng Guanliang (, born January 24, 1977, in

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

) is a Chinese former flatwater canoeist who has competed since 1998, the gold medalists at two

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 vari ...

, he won the

Canadian canoe Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of Nor ...

C-2 500 m gold medal both in 2004 and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. As a competitive canoeist, Meng once announced his retirement at 2005 China National Games end, he made a comeback in October 2006, Meng officially announced retirement after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.CCTV (2008-12-31): ten famous sporters retiring from athletes
/ref> As Champions in two

, Meng won much honour. He was the winners at the Best Group of CCTV Sports Personality Awards of Year 2008, the 2008 China Top Ten Benefiting Laureus Sports for Good,honours of Yang Wenjun
/ref> the 2008 most influential people in Zhengjiang. Meng was selected as the representative of 18th CCPC National Congress; he currently serves as the director at Water Sports Administration Center of Zhejiang .Chinese Canoeing Association (2008-12-22)sports.sina.com (2014-7-11)
also se

/ref>

Career

Meng became Chinese champion for the first time at the age of twenty. He has won a total of five gold medals at the Asian Championships (1998, 1999 (x3) and 2002). His best

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

performance came in 2003 in Gainesville, USA. Meng reached two individual finals, finishing in fifth place in the C-1 500 m and sixth in the C-1 200 m. For the 2004 season he formed a C-2 partnership with

Yang Wenjun Yang Wenjun (, born December 25, 1983, in Fengcheng, Jiangxi) is a Chinese former flatwater canoeist who has competed since the early 2000s, the gold medalists at two Olympic Games, he won the Canadian canoe C-2 500 m gold medal both in 2004 ...

. On their first international appearance together in Komatsu, Japan, they shocked observers by posting a C-2 500 m time of 1:40.27. Then, in June, they won a World Cup race in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

to establish themselves as one of the favourites for an Olympic medal. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, they were drawn in the toughest heat alongside all the main medal contenders. They won the heat in a time of 1:38.916, almost a full second ahead of Cubans Rojas and Balceiro. The final was much closer with less than a second separating the first eight contenders but Meng and Yang again headed the Cuban pair to win the gold medal - China's first in the sport. They repeated their Olympic victory in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

four years later despite their boat

capsizing Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fr ...

at the finish line after their win. Meng is tall and weighs .

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meng, Guanliang 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Jiaxing Chinese male canoeists Olympic canoeists of China Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic medalists in canoeing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in canoeing Canoeists at the 1998 Asian Games Canoeists at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games