Li Zijun

Li Zijun (; December 14, 1996) is a Chinese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic bronze medalist and the 2014 Four Continents bronze medalist. Li is also the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, 2010 JGP Final bronze medalist, and a four-time (2011–2014) Chinese national champion.

Li represented China at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Personal life 
Li was born on December 14, 1996, in Changchun, China.

In 2023, Li announced that she had gotten married and had a daughter.

Career

2010–11 season: First senior national title 
Li debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit during the 2010–11 season. She won the bronze medal in Austria and placed fourth in the Czech Republic to qualify for the Final. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, she tied with Risa Shoji for third place. She won the bronze medal on the tie-breaker.

Li went on to win her first senior national title. She finished ninth at the 2011 World Junior Championships.

2011–12 season: Bronze at Youth Olympics 
Li placed second in both of her assigned 2011–12 Junior Grand Prix events and qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final which was held in Quebec City, Canada. She finished fourth at the event. At the Youth Olympics, she won the bronze medal. She then competed at the 2012 Junior World Championships and finished fifth. Concluding her season, Li won gold at her first senior international, the Triglav Trophy.

2012–13 season: Senior ISU Championship debut 
In the 2012–13 season, Li debuted on the senior Grand Prix series. She was fifth at her first event, the 2012 Cup of China, and fourth at the 2012 NHK Trophy, where she posted a personal best combined total score. Li won her third national title at the 2013 Chinese Championships. She then competed at the 2013 Four Continents Championships and finished fifth. She finished seventh at Worlds after placing twelfth in the short program and fourth in the long. She received the second highest technical score in the free skate, only after Kim Yuna.

2013–14 season: Bronze at Four Continents 
In the 2013–14 ISU Grand Prix season, Li's first event was the 2013 Cup of China where she finished tenth. Prior to her next Grand Prix assignment, the 2013 NHK Trophy, her coach Li Mingzhu stated, "She's getting taller and bigger, but losing power and coordination" and said it was affecting her self-confidence. The skater withdrew from the NHK Trophy, which was scheduled for the following week. She returned to competition at the 2014 Four Continents Championships, placing second in the short, third in the long and won the bronze medal overall behind gold medalist winner Kanako Murakami, and second-place finisher Satoko Miyahara. Li then competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia where she finished fourteenth. At the 2014 World Championships, Li finished seventeenth overall.

2014–15 season
After the 2013–14 season, Li's head coach Li Mingzhu's contract to coach young Chinese skate for the 2014 Olympics ended and she moved back to the United States, while Li remained in China. In October, Gao Haijun became Li's new coach.

Li finished 6th at the 2014 Cup of China, after placing fifth in the short program and sixth in the free skate. At the 2014 NHK Trophy, she placed fifth in the short, eighth in the free, and seventh overall. She went on to win her fourth national title at the Chinese Championships, placing first by over 25 points.

At the 2015 Four Continents, Li finished in fifth-place after placing fifth in the short program and fourth in the free skate, 1.52 points back of third place. At the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai where she placed sixth in the short program and eleventh in the free skate to finish ninth overall. At the 2015 World Team Trophy, she placed seventh in the individual event and Team China placed fifth overall.

2015–16 season
For the 2015–16 Grand Prix series, Li was assigned to compete at 2015 Cup of China and 2015 NHK Trophy. She placed ninth in China and seventh in Japan.

She finished tenth at the 2016 Four Continents Championships in Taipei and eleventh at the 2016 World Championships in Boston.

2016–17 season 
Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Li returned to train under Li Mingzhu in Artesia, California, and under Pang Qing. She later spent time training with Alexei Mishin in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and with Gao Haijun in Changchun, China.

Li began the season with a fourth-place finish at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup before going on to place eighth at the 2016 Cup of China.

At the 2017 Four Continents Championships in Gangneung, South Korea, Li finished seventh after placing eighth in the short program and fifth in the free skate.

Li then went on to compete at the 2017 Asian Winter Games where she won the silver medal behind Choi Da-bin.

At the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, Li finished in twenty-first place after placing twentieth in both the short and free program segments of the competition.

Li finished the season by competing at the 2017 World Team Trophy. After placing ninth in the short program, Li managed to score personal bests in both the free program and combined total scores. Team China would finish in fifth place overall.

2017–18 season 
Although Li was assigned to compete at the 2017 Cup of China and the 2017 Internationaux de France, she withdrew from both events. Zhao Hongbo spoke on her behalf, stating that an injury was the reason for Li's withdrawals.

She did not compete for the remainder of the season.

In November 2018, Li announced her retirement from competitive figure skating on her Weibo account, stating that she no longer felt fulfilled from competing. She went on to say, "I am ready to embrace the new chapter of my life and I will continue being with you all."

Programs

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results

Small medals for short program and free skating awarded only at ISU Championships.

Junior level

 QR = Qualifying round
 Personal bests highlighted in bold.

References

External links
 

1996 births
Living people
Chinese female single skaters
Figure skaters from Changchun
Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists
Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Olympic figure skaters for China
Figure skaters at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2017 Asian Winter Games
Medalists at the 2017 Asian Winter Games
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Asian Games medalists in figure skating
21st-century Chinese women
21st-century Chinese people