Yang Yang is elected Vice President of the World Anti-Doping Agency on Nov. 7, 2019. [Photo courtesy of Yang Yang]

She is China's first-ever Winter Olympics gold medalist and a former Chinese women's short-track speed skating athlete. She is the athlete who still has the most world championships under her belt in China, having won 59 world champion titles throughout her 23 years of sports career. In 2015, she served as a member of the Beijing delegation to bid for the Winter Olympics and one of the guests who made a bid presentation. Today, as the chairperson of the Athlete Commission of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, she is in charge of a slew of tasks in the preparation of the Beijing Winter Olympics. She serves different roles because of her special attachment to the Beijing Winter Olympics. Almost every day, she is busily involved in various tasks with a high spirit, making reflections at the same time.

She is Yang Yang, who won the first gold medal for China in Winter Olympics, is a veritable participant, witness, and promoter of Chinese winter sports.

Prowess for Serving Multiple Roles

Yang Yang retired from her sports career after the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, but she is still engaged in the sports-related work which is her true love. "We devoted our youth to the sports field, which is a moral asset to be cherished for a lifetime. After changing my career path, through personal efforts, I can continue to contribute to society in other ways."

She is a world champion, Olympic champion, China's first International Olympic Committee (IOC) member elected in the capacity of retired athlete, the first female speed skating council member of the International Skating Union (ISU) in 125 years, chairperson of the Athlete Commission of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, vice-chairperson of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), IOC Ambassador against Competition Manipulation, the first female flag bearer of the Chinese Olympic delegation, vice-chairperson of the All-China Youth Federation, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, sponsor of the Champion Foundation, founder of China's first market-oriented professional skating center... She is also a mother of two children.