Yang Yang (simplified Chinese: 杨扬; traditional Chinese: 楊揚; pinyin: Yáng Yáng; born 24 August 1976 in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang, China) is a retired Chinese short track speed skater. She is a two-time Olympic Champion from 2002 Winter Olympics and a six-time Overall World Champion for 1997–2002. Known as Yang Yang (A), she was formerly a member of the Chinese national short track team. Yang is one of the most accomplished short track speed skaters of all time having won 34 world titles, including six Overall World Championships. She is the first person to have won six Overall World Titles and won six consecutively. Her victory in the women's 500 m short track at the 2002 Winter Olympics made her China's first-ever Winter Olympics gold medalist. She added a second gold in the women's 1000 m short track at the same Games and has also won two silver and a bronze medal. After 2003 World Championships, Yang took time off competing, but came back in 2004–2005 season in lead-up to 2006 Winter Olympics where she won the bronze medal in 1000m race. She retired soon afterwards.

Quick Facts Personal information, Born ...

Yang Yang

Yang Yang in Montreal, 2002.
Personal information
Born	(1976-08-24) 24 August 1976 (age 47) Jiamusi, Heilongjiang, China
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 lb)
Sport
Country	China
Sport	Speed skating
World championship wins	1997 Overall 1998 Overall 1999 Overall 2000 Overall 2001 Overall 2002 Overall
Medal record Women's short track speed skating Representing  China Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 2 1 World Championships 28 9 5 World Team Championships 4 4 0 Olympic Games 2002 Salt Lake City 500 m 2002 Salt Lake City 1000 m 1998 Nagano 3000 m Relay 2002 Salt Lake City 3000 m Relay 2006 Turin 1000 m World Championships 1997 Nagano 500 m 1997 Nagano 1000 m 1997 Nagano Overall 1998 Vienna 1500 m 1998 Vienna 1000 m 1998 Vienna Overall 1998 Vienna 3000 m relay 1999 Sofia 500 m 1999 Sofia 1000 m 1999 Sofia 3000 m 1999 Sofia Overall 1999 Sofia 3000 m relay 2000 Sheffield 1000 m 2000 Sheffield 1500 m 2000 Sheffield Overall 2000 Sheffield 3000 m relay 2001 Jeonju 1000 m 2001 Jeonju 1500 m 2001 Jeonju 3000 m 2001 Jeonju Overall 2001 Jeonju 3000 m relay 2002 Montréal 500 m 2002 Montréal 1000 m 2002 Montréal 1500 m 2002 Montréal Overall 2003 Warsaw 500 m 2003 Warsaw 3000 m relay 2005 Beijing 500 m 1994 Guildford 3000 m relay 1996 The Hague 3000 m relay 1998 Vienna 3000 m 1999 Sofia 1500 m 2000 Sheffield 3000 m 2001 Jeonju 500 m 2002 Montréal 3000 m relay 2003 Warsaw Overall 2005 Beijing 3000 m relay 1994 Guildford 500 m 1994 Guildford 3000 m 1997 Nagano 3000 m 2003 Warsaw 1500 m 2003 Warsaw 1000 m World Team Championships 1998 Bormio Team 1999 St. Louis Team 2000 The Hague Team 2001 Nobeyama Team 1995 Zoetermeer Team 2002 Milwaukee Team 2003 Sofia Team 2005 Chuncheon Team Asian Winter Games 1996 Harbin 1500 m 1996 Harbin 3000 m relay

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Yang, born in 1976, is sometimes known as Yang Yang (A), to differentiate her from the speed skater named Yang Yang, born in 1977 and known as Yang Yang (S).

By coincidence, Yang had a contemporary on the Chinese skating team, one year and one month her junior, also named Yang Yang in pinyin and English (although with a different given name character in Chinese). The "(A)" identifier was used as a way to distinguish her from the younger Yang Yang. Originally, the older Yang Yang was known as Yang Yang (L) for "large" (大 or 'big' in Chinese is used to distinguish between younger and older persons of roughly the same age), as she is older than Yang Yang (S) for "small"; however, she objected to the "L" identifier, changing it to "A" for "August", her birth month. Although the younger Yang Yang (S) is now retired from competition and there is no longer a need to distinguish between the two in results, Yang Yang (A) still used the identifier in competition, considering it a part of her identity.^[1][2][3][4]

Yang Yang (A) was chosen to be one of 12,000 torchbearers to carry the Olympic torch for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, and on November 22, 2009, she ran a portion of the Prince Edward Island legs.^[5][6]

Yang was elected as an IOC member in 2010 becoming mainland China's fourth IOC member.^[7] She is also a committee member of the World Anti Doping Agency,^[8] and founding member of the Chinese Athlete Education Foundation.

In 2013, Yang co-founded the Feiyang Skating Centre in Shanghai, a new double-rink facility with an Olympic-sized rink upstairs and a recreational-sized rink downstairs, built to promote ice sports in China.

In 2021, Yang became a high profile supporter of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. She amplifies Chinese social media content highlighting the power of sport to transform the lives of people fleeing conflict and persecution.^[9]

• (2002) – Speed Skating World Cup – Montreal – Yang Yang
• (2002) – Speed Skating World Cup – Montreal – Yang Yang answering questions from journalists.