Shaolin Sándor Liu

In this article, the surname is Liu (刘).

The native form of this personal name is Liu Shaolin Sándor. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Shaolin Sándor Liu (Chinese: 劉少林; pinyin: Liú Shàolín; Mandarin pronunciation: [ljǒʊ ʂâʊ lǐn]; born 20 November 1995) is a Chinese-Hungarian Olympic champion short track speed skater.^[1][2] He has won one gold and one bronze as part of the Hungarian team in short track speed skating relays at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. He has chosen to change nationality that may allow him to compete for China in 2024.

Shaolin Sándor Liu

Liu in 2014
Personal information
Nationality	Chinese
Born	(1995-11-20) 20 November 1995 (age 28) Budapest, Hungary
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	76
Sport
Country	Hungary (2013–2022) China (2023–)
Sport	Short track speed skating
Club	Ferencvárosi Torna Club (2019-2022) Tianjin Winter and Water Sports Management Center (2022-)
Coached by	Zhang Jing (speed skater)
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m: 39.732 (2019) 1,000 m: 1:22.490 (2023) 1,500 m: 2:09.213 (2022) 3,000 m: 4:46.110 (2019)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 1 World Championships 3 5 3 European Championships 6 8 2 Total 10 13 6 Representing  China World Championships 2024 Rotterdam 5000 m relay Representing  Hungary Olympic Games 2018 Pyeongchang 5000 m relay 2022 Beijing 2000 m mixed relay World Championships 2016 Seoul 500 m 2021 Dordrecht 1000 m 2015 Moscow 500 m 2015 Moscow 5000 m relay 2018 Montreal Overall 2021 Dordrecht Overall 2021 Dordrecht 5000 m relay 2016 Seoul Overall 2017 Rotterdam 5000 m relay 2019 Sofia 5000 m relay European Championships 2017 Turin 1000 m 2019 Dordrecht Overall 2019 Dordrecht 1500 m 2019 Dordrecht 5000 m relay 2020 Debrecen 500 m 2020 Debrecen 1000 m 2015 Dordrecht 5000 m relay 2016 Sochi 1000 m 2016 Sochi 1500 m 2016 Sochi 5000 m relay 2017 Turin Overall 2019 Dordrecht 500 m 2019 Dordrecht 1000 m 2020 Debrecen Overall 2013 Malmö 5000 m relay 2018 Dresden 5000 m relay World Junior Championships 2014 Erzurum 500 m 2013 Warsaw 1000 m 2014 Erzurum Overall 2014 Erzurum 1000 m

Shaolin Sándor Liu
Simplified Chinese	刘少林
Traditional Chinese	劉少林
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Shàolín IPA [ljǒʊ ʂâʊ lǐn]

Career

Born and raised in Hungary to a Chinese father and a Hungarian mother, Liu started the sport in 2006. Before taking up skating, Liu and his brother Shaoang swam for two years, but they frequently got colds as a result.^[3] After looking for different sports to compete in, they took up short track speed skating.

In 2006, the World Championships were held in Hungary. Their father assisted the Chinese team during their stay, helping with their stay and guiding them around.^[3] After the Chinese team suggested his two sons should go train in China due to their half-Chinese ethnicity,^[3] Liu's father agreed to take the boys to China, where they trained for one and a half years.^[3] After returning from China, they began to win various minor European competitions.^[3] In 2012, Zhang Jing came from China to coach Liu and his brother.^[4][3]

Liu represented Hungary at the 2014 Winter Olympics.^[5] He has won multiple medals at the World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships,^[6] and placed third overall at the 2016 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.^[7]

He finished in fifth position at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the men's 1500 m event before winning gold in the 5000 m relay, which was also Hungary's first-ever Winter Olympics title.^[8]

At the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing, Liu was disqualified for an infringement despite finishing first in the men's 1000m final.^[9] He won a bronze in the mixed 2000 m relay.^[10]

In November 2022, Liu and his brother requested consent from the Hungarian National Skating Federation to allow them to change nationality, a request which was granted a month later in December, but they would need to sit out for 12 months with the change in nationality.^[11][12]

Personal life

Liu's younger brother Shaoang Liu is also a short track speed skater. He was second in the 1500 m, third in the 500 m, and fifth overall at the 2016 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.^{[13][non-primary source needed]} Though born to a Chinese father from Tianjin, Liu speaks Chinese with a noticeable Northeastern accent due to his year and a half spent in the Northeastern region of China.^[4] He was in a relationship with fellow speed skater Elise Christie from 2015 to 2018.^[14][15]

See also

• List of Olympic medalist families

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sándor Liu". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016. Full name: Shaolin "Sándor" Liu
2. "Short Track Speed Skating | Athlete Profile: Shaolin Sandor LIU – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". Pyeongchang2018.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
3. Duran, Andres. "Featured interview: Liu Brothers (HUN) – ISU". isu.org. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
4. Mia Castagnone (15 February 2022). "Winter Olympics: Hungary's Liu brothers Shaolin and Shaoang strengthen bonds with China after success on Beijing ice". South China Morning Post.
5. "Sandor LIU SHAOLIN". Sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
6. "Rp gyorskori: Liu Shaolin megnyerte a junior-vb-t" [Rp quick time: Shaolin Liu won the junior World Championships]. nemzetisport.hu (in Hungarian). 8 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
7. "Men's overall results". Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
8. "Christie's boyfriend wins gold". BBC Sport.
9. "Winter Olympics 2022 - Hungary's Shaolin Liu disqualified as Ren Ziwei takes dramatic 1000m gold". Eurosport. 7 February 2022.
10. "Shaolin Sándor Liu Pledges to Return Stronger Than Ever for 2026 Olympics". Hungary Today. 18 February 2022.
11. "Hungary history-making short track speed skating brothers seek new country". NBC Sports. 9 November 2022.
12. "Hungarian skating federation agrees to Liu brothers' change of country". Xinhua. 20 December 2022.
13. Liu Shaolin (28 January 2016). "93 days since Together". Retrieved 14 November 2016 – via Twitter.
14. Falkingham, Katie (16 November 2018). "Elise Christie: Speed skater considered quitting after Winter Olympics". BBC News.
15. Rutlzer, Peter (14 February 2018). "Winter Olympics: The couples spending Valentine's Day in PyeongChang". i.

External links

Media related to Shaolin Sándor Liu at Wikimedia Commons

• Shaolin Sándor Liu at ShortTrackOnLine.info
• Shaolin Sándor Liu at ShortTrackOnLine.info
• Shaolin Sándor Liu at Olympics.com
• Shaolin Sándor Liu at Olympedia
• Shaolin Sándor Liu at the International Skating Union

Awards
Preceded by Balázs Baji	Hungarian Sportsman of The Year 2018	Succeeded by Kristóf Milák