Shen Lijuan (; born 4 July 1958) is a Chinese female former track and field athlete who competed in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. She is a three-time Asian champion and a former Asian record holder for the event. Shen was the first Chinese woman to have international success in the shot put. Her games record throw of to win the gold medal at the

1978 Asian Games The 8th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, was de ...

made her the first Chinese to take the title and she achieved the same feat at the

1979 Asian Athletics Championships The third Asian Athletics Championships were held in 1979 in Tokyo, Japan. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table External linksGBR Athletics {{asian athletics champs Asian Athletics Championships Asian Asian Championshi ...

with a

championship record The sports under the umbrella of athletics, particularly track and field, use a variety of statistics. In order to report that information efficiently, numerous abbreviations have grown to be common in the sport. Starting in 1948 by Bert Nelson a ...

of a year later. She was the first woman to throw beyond seventeen metres at either event.Asian Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-09.
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-09. She missed the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

due to China's

1980 Olympic boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...

, but she competed at the alternative Liberty Bell Classic held in the United States and won that event with a throw of . This standard was far short of the Eastern European woman who reached the podium at the Moscow Games. Shen remained at the top of her field at continental level, retaining her Asian gold medal at the

1981 Asian Athletics Championships The 1981 Asian Athletics Championships was the fourth edition of the biennial athletics competition for Asian nations, and was held from June 5-7, 1981 in Tokyo, Japan. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References Asian ...

and improving her championship record to . He rise of national rival

Li Meisu Li Meisu (; born April 17, 1959, in Hebei) is a retired Chinese shot putter who won the bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. She also won the Asian Games in 1982 and 1998, the Asian Championships in 1998 and the East Asian Game ...

saw her fall back into the silver medal position at the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of ...

, however, as Li broke Shen's former record. In her last major appearance (and first global one) she was eliminated in qualifying at the

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st 1983 World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983. Summary The overall med ...

. At national level, Shen won the shot put at the 1979 National Games of China with a meet record of .Chinese Championships and Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-09.

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Lijuan Living people 1958 births Chinese female shot putters Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for China Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games Asian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Chinese women