Wang Meng Biography

Short track speed skaterNot to be confused with Wang Meng (figure skater).Olympic Games 2006 Turin 500 m 2010 Vancouver 500 m 2010 Vancouver 1000 m 2010 Vancouver 3000 m relay 2006 Turin 1000 m 2006 Turin 1500 mWorld Championships 2003 Warsaw 3000 m relay 2004 Gothenburg 500 m 2006 Minneapolis 500 m 2006 Minneapolis3000 m relay 2008 Gangneung Overall 2008 Gangneung500 m 2008 Gangneung1000 m 2008 Gangneung1500 m 2009 Vienna Overall 2009 Vienna500 m 2009 Vienna1000 m 2009 Vienna3000 m relay 2010 Sofia 500 m 2010 Sofia1000 m 2013 Debrecen Overall 2013 Debrecen500 m 2013 Debrecen1000 m 2013 Debrecen3000 m relay 2004 GothenburgOverall 2004 Gothenburg1500 m 2004 Gothenburg3000 m relay 2005 Beijing 500 m 2005 Beijing3000 m relay 2006 MinneapolisOverall 2006 Minneapolis1000 m 2006 Minneapolis1500 m 2006 Minneapolis3000 m 2010 SofiaOverall 2005 Beijing1000 m 2005 Beijing1500 m 2008 Gangneung3000 m relayWorld Team Championships 2008 HarbinTeam 2009 HeerenveenTeam 2003 SofiaTeam 2004 St. PetersburgTeam 2005 ChuncheonTeam 2006 MontréalTeamWorld Junior Championships 2002 Chuncheon500 m 2002 ChuncheonOverall 2002 Chuncheon1500 m 2002 Chuncheon2000 m relayAsian Winter Games 2007 Changchun500 m 2007 Changchun3000 m relay 2003 Aomori500 m 2007 Changchun1000 m 2007 Changchun1500 mIn this Chinese name, the family name is Wang.

Wang Meng (Chinese: 王濛; pinyin: Wáng Méng; born April 10, 1985, in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese short track speed skater. She is a four-time Olympic Champion and 2008 and 2009 Overall World Champion. She is the most decorated Chinese Winter Olympic athlete ever with four Olympic gold medals, a silver and a bronze. Wang won gold in the 500 m event, silver in the 1000 m and bronze in the 1500 m event at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She won 500 m and 1000 m gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and added a third gold medal in the 3000 m relay with the China team. Wang has also won 18 gold medals at the World Championships. She is one of the most decorated short track speed skaters of all time.

Early life

Wang Meng started short track speed skating in 1994, when she was nine. In 1998 she entered Heilongjiang Provincial Sports School, which is affiliated of Harbin Ins*ute of Physical Education. She graduated from Harbin Ins*ute of Physical Education.

2010 Winter Olympics

Wang was considered a strong contender for all short track speed skating events at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She won the gold medal in the 500 m event in which she had previously been dominant and was considered to be the favorite to win. She set three Olympic records in the 500 m heats, while in the finals she led from start to finish ac*ulating a huge lead ahead of all other compe*ors. In the 1,500 m race, she failed to finish after having lost her footing and crashing into the barricades. However, she came back to win the 3,000 m relay with the Chinese team and the 1,000 m solo race. She ended up snatching three gold medals, which makes her the most successful Winter Olympian ever for China.

Conflict with the team manager

On 24 July 2011, Wang Meng had a physical conflict with the team manager Wang Chunlu at the hotel in the Qingdao training camp. In the scuffle her arm was injured and she had to be taken to a hospital. There was a lot of speculation in the media as to what had really happened, but both sides involved provided very different stories, which makes the truth unclear to this day.

Ten days after the incident, on 4 August 2011, Wang Meng was expelled from the national short track speed skating team and the same applied to her teammate Liu Xianwei, who actively supported Wang during those ten days. The team manager, Wang Chunlu, was moved to another position, and Liu Hao became the new team manager.

2014 Winter Olympics

On 16 January 2014, Wang collided with a teammate while training in Shanghai for the 2014 Winter Olympics. She broke her ankle, which required surgery and a recovery period of at least six months. She missed the Olympics as a result.

International Compe*ion Podiums

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wang Meng (speed skater).

• Wang Meng at the International Skating Union
• Wang Meng at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Cyber Scoreboard biography at the Wayback Machine (archived 2005-11-22)
• NBCOlympics.com biography at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-06-17)