Xu Haifeng (; born August 1, 1957) is a male

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

pistol

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

, and he is the first citizen of the People's Republic of China to win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics. He specializes in the 50 metre pistol event. He was born in

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefect ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ca ...

and is a native of

He County He County or Hexian () is a county in the east of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, under the jurisdiction of Ma'anshan. It has a population of 650,000 and an area of . The government of He County is located in Liyang Town. History From ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

. The first gold medal for China was won by Xu in the

1984 Los Angeles 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 ...

, while his teammate

Wang Yifu Wang Yifu (, born December 4, 1960 in Liaoyang, Liaoning) is a male Chinese pistol shooter, and in terms of Olympic medals one of the most successful sport shooters of all times, and was the first shooter with six individual Olympic medals. He s ...

won bronze. After retiring in 1995, he became a coach for the Chinese National Shooting Team. Xu was the torchbearer to bring the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympi ...

into the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, pr ...

, near the end of the

2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the ''Bird's Nest''. It began at 20:00 China Standard Time ( UTC+08:00) on Friday, 8 August 2008, as the number 8 is considered to be auspicious. ...

. Xu is married to Zhao Lei, the daughter of his coach in the Chinese National Shooting Team. They have a daughter, Xu Jia. Xu is the Deputy Director of Chinese Cycling and Fencing Administration Centre.

Portrayals and coverage in media

On October 14, 2012 a movie based on his life leading up to his Olympic gold medal, "Xu Haifeng and his Gun" premiered in China. The movie was directed by Wang Fangfang () and stars Li Dongxue () as Xu Haifeng.

References

Profile
- China Daily {{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Haifeng 1957 births Living people ISSF pistol shooters Olympic bronze medalists for China Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic shooters of China Sportspeople from Zhangzhou Shooters at the 1984 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1988 Summer Olympics National team coaches Olympic medalists in shooting Asian Games medalists in shooting Sport shooters from Fujian Shooters at the 1986 Asian Games Shooters at the 1990 Asian Games Shooters at the 1994 Asian Games Chinese male sport shooters Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for China Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games 20th-century Chinese people