Liu Hongmei (Chinese: 刘红梅; pinyin: Liú Hóngméi; born 27 December 1973) is a Chinese retired ice hockey player.[1] She competed in the women's tournaments at the 1998 Winter Olympics and the 2002 Winter Olympics.[2]

Liu Hongmei
Born (1973-12-27) 27 December 1973 (age 50)
Shandong, China
Height 162 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight 58 kg (128 lb; 9 st 2 lb)
Position Forward
Shot Right
Played for Harbin Ice Hockey
National team  China
Playing career c. 1996–2002
Medal record
Asian Winter Games
Gold medal – first place 1999 Gangneung Ice hockey
Liu Hongmei
Traditional Chinese劉紅梅
Simplified Chinese刘红梅
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiú Hóngméi

Biography

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Liu Hengmei was born on 27 December 1973 to a security guard and a maintenance worker for the city.[2][3] Between 1992 and 2002, she represented the China women's national ice hockey team.[4] Liu competed in the 1992 IIHF Women's World Championship.[4] She played in five games at the 1994 IIHF Women's World Championship, where she tallied eight goals.[5] Liu went to Winnipeg in 2001, where she learned how to converse in English.[3] The Hockey News called her "the Chinese women's team's answer to Wayne Gretzky" and said she was a "player to watch" during the 2002 Winter Olympics.[5]

During the Olympics, she competed for China in the forward position and was the team's captain.[3] The shoulder of her uniform during the Olympics bore the Swoosh logo.[3] She earned three goals for her team.[6] During the game against the Germany team, she made two goals.[7] In a game with the Kazakhstan team, she had an injured shoulder. WIth 1 minute 39 seconds left in overtime, Liu scored a close-range goal, giving her team a 2–1 win and seventh place.[6][8] Liu said in an interview after the game, "I had very complicated feelings at the time. Originally we could win without overtime. After scoring the goal, I thought, we finally won. Yes, it's really not easy."[6] With three goals each, she and Yang Xiuqing were their team's highest scorers.[7]

Liu and four other players retired from the national team after the 2002 Olympics, which China Consumer Daily said hurt the team's strength.[9] During her over a decade tenure on the national team, Liu earned 44 points, completed 27 goals, and had 17 assists.[4] Writing for Sina Corporation in 2015, Xuefeng Wang called Liu "a star player" who has been "highly praised by the international ice hockey community".[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Liu Hongmei". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Liu Hongmei Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Weiner, Jay (12 January 2002). "China's Town - Blaine, with its sod farms and soccer fields, is the perfect home for China's Olympic hockey team". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Fang, Xuefeng 房学峰 (7 August 2015). "冬奥史话:冰花的绽放之女子冰球的故事" [Winter Olympics History: The Blooming of Ice Flowers: The Story of Women's Ice Hockey] (in Chinese). Sina Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  5. ^ a b "China in tough to keep up with the pack". The Hockey News. 15 February 2002. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023 – via DiscountMags.
  6. ^ a b c "金球险胜哈萨克斯坦 我女冰获冬奥会第七" [Golden ball narrowly beat Kazakhstan, my female ice skater won seventh place in Winter Olympics]. Tianjin Daily [zh] (in Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. 21 February 2002.
  7. ^ a b "Golden Goal Gives China 1st Win and 7th Place in Olympic Ice Hockey. Veteran forward Liu Hongmei's golden goal in the over-time awarded the Chinese women a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan and a seventh place finish in the ice hockey competition of the 19th Winter Olympic Games here on Tuesday". People's Daily. 20 February 2002. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  8. ^ Wang, Jingyu 王镜宇; Wang, Jianmin 王健民 (21 February 2002). "遭遇严冬盼春天--从冬奥会透视中国女子冰球现状" [Encountering a harsh winter and looking forward to spring--A look at the current situation of Chinese women's ice hockey from the perspective of the Winter Olympics] (in Chinese). Sina Corporation. Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  9. ^ "中国女冰急待援兵" [Chinese female ice hockey team urgently awaits reinforcements]. 中国消费者报 [China Consumer Daily] (in Chinese). 13 February 2003.
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