Yang Wenjun (, born December 25, 1983, in Fengcheng,

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

) is a Chinese former flatwater canoeist who has competed since the early 2000s, 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 an Olympian and a competitive canoeist with master's degree graduated from

Jiangxi Normal University Jiangxi Normal University (JXNU; ), situated in Nanchang, capital city of Jiangxi Province China, is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the Jiangxi Provincial Government. It is listed in the Midwest University Fundamental Capacity Buil ...

, Yang officially announced his retirement at the 2009 National Games end, made a short time comeback for competing in the 13th National Games 2013. He won many medals in major international and domestic competition events, he was three gold and one silver medalists in two Asian Games; he participated in four National Games from 2001 to 2013, won four gold medalists in later three National Games. As Champions in two

, Yang won much honour. He was the winner at the Best Group of CCTV Sports Personality Awards of Year 2008, the winner of the 2008 China Top Ten Benefiting Laureus Sports for Good.honours of Yang Wenjun
/ref> he also won the honor at the 2004 Top 10 Outstanding Youths of Jiangxi, the 2008 Top 10 Yichun People, the 2008 People Who Moved Fengcheng. Yang was selected the representative of 17th CCPC National Congress, he currently serves as the vice director, and a coach in Jiangxi Water Sports Administration Center on October 8, 2008, also the secretary of

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

committee.Jiangxi Water Sports Administration Center (2015-07-15): division of work at tasks of anti-corruption
/ref>

Career

Yang's first major international success came at the 2002 Asian Games where, aged only 18, he won two gold C-2 medals with Wang Bing. At the 2003 world championships in Gainesville, USA he was the youngest of the individual C-1 1000m finalists, finishing a very creditable seventh overall. At the start of the 2004 season he formed a new C-2 partnership with the more experienced

Meng Meng may refer to: * Meng (surname) (孟), a Chinese surname * Master of Engineering (MEng or M.Eng.), an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering * , "M with hook", letter used in the International Phonetic Alphabet * ...

, working under

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 ...

coach Marek Ploch. On their first international appearance together in Komatsu, Japan, they shocked observers by posting a 500 m time of 1:40.27. Then, in June, they won the prestigious

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 ...

World Cup. At the Olympic Games 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 Ledys Balceiro. The final was much closer with less than a second separating the first eight contenders but Meng and Yang again came out on top, beating the Cuban pair to win the gold medal. After the Olympics, Yang returned to the C-1. At the 2005 World Championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, Croatia he raced over all three distances, despite the new compressed schedule, and finished sixth (500 m), seventh (1000 m) and tenth (200 m). At the 2006 World Championships in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

, Hungary, Yang concentrated on the shorter distance events. He won the C-1 500 m bronze medal, China's first-ever men's world championship medal, and finished fifth in the C-1 200 m. Yang won another bronze in the C-1 500 m event at the following world championships in Duisburg. Meng and Yang defended their Olympic title 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. Yang is 177 cm (5'10") tall and weighs 77 kg (169 lbs).

References

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Sports-reference.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Wenjun 1983 births Living people People from Yichun, Jiangxi Sportspeople from Jiangxi 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 2002 Asian Games Canoeists at the 2006 Asian Games ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China