Golden Lily: Asia's 1 Dinghy Sailing Gold Medallist

by Lijia Xu, Jeremy Atkins (Editor)

Overview

The fascinating autobiography from Asia’s first ever dinghy sailing gold medallist. Learning to sail and becoming a full-time athlete at just 10 years old, Lijia Xu was taken away from her parents and enrolled on the gruelling Chinese training regime, a programme meticulously prescribed across all sporting disciplines to catapult the nation’s talented youngsters to international champions. A rare insight into a shocking world of relentless physical training and unquestioning mental compliance, Lijia’s honest and heart-felt account takes you on her journey from physical disabilities and debilitating injuries to learning to think for herself, eventually going on to achieve her dream of becoming an Olympic gold medallist. This is an inspirational story of a young woman’s will to succeed despite all that her background threw at her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909911475
Publisher:	Fernhurst Books
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Series:	Making Waves Series , #1
Edition description:	UK ed.
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lijia Xu was born in Shanghai in 1987. She became a full-time sailor shortly after her 10th birthday. Her first National Championship was in the Optimist class, held in Hong Kong in 1998, which she won. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Lijia was awarded the bronze medal. Despite a number of setbacks, including serious injuries, Lijia went on to achieve the Olympic gold medal in single-handed dinghy sailing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Jeremy Atkins wrote and privately published four sailing books before buying Fernhurst Books from John Wiley & Sons. He is a past national champion, has run Class Associations worldwide for 20 years and been involved in running sailing clubs for nearly 40 years. He is currently Commodore of Draycote Water Sailing Club and Secretary of the Imperial Poona Yacht Club.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Prologue; Chapter 1: Golden Lily; Chapter 2: My Family; Chapter 3: Becoming a Sportswoman; Chapter 4: Training to be a Professional; Chapter 5: My Optimist Years; Chapter 6: My Time in the Europe Class; Chapter 7: Studying English; Chapter 8: Learning from Others; Chapter 9: Getting to Grips with the Laser Radial; Chapter 10: My First Olympics & the Build Up; Chapter 11: A Slow Recovery; Chapter 12: Finally Teaming Up with Jon Emmett; Chapter 13: The Cracks Begin to Show; Chapter 14: Getting Better… Then Worse; Chapter 15: The Final Road to Weymouth; Chapter 16: Olympic Glory; Chapter 17: Heat after London; Chapter 18: Thoughts about China; Chapter 19: My Puppy Love; Chapter 20: A New Path; Chapter 21: Acknowledge the Cultural Differences; Achievements; Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Lijia Xu is a true sailing champion… an inspiration for sailors, particularly female sailors, around the world. But, as this fascinating autobiography reveals, there is far more to Lily than the medals she has won… Lily was the first ever Asian dinghy gold medallist. To achieve this, she had to supplement the Chinese emphasis on relentless training with help from outside China to really hone her sailing skills. On top of this, she has to overcome inherited physical frailties and career threatening injuries. Golden Lily is an enthralling account of Lily’s life, whilst also being a fascinating eye-opener into the Chinese sports ‘machine’, where people like Lily become professional sportspeople at the age of 10, shedding light on the reality of growing up as a state sponsored child athlete… I have nothing but respect for Lily. I commend this book to anyone interested in sailing, sport or the differences between east and west.” (Sir Ben Ainslie)
"A fascinating autobiography." (Sailing Magazine)
"Lily's biography is far more than a sailing book; along the way you will gain a great insight into a culture so alien to ours." (Yachting Life)
"Apart from containing a lot of tips to improve her sailing, the book is a gold mine of information for a person looking to improve in any sport or in life in general." (Laser World)
"I was totally fascinated by Lijia Xu's story." (Bob Fisher)
"Provides a fascinating peak into a very different system of living and training." (SailWeb)
"A great opportunity to get inside the mind of a Gold medallist and learn about what it takes to win at the highest level." (Gybe Magazine)

From the Publisher

"Provides a fascinating peak into a very different system of living and training."

SailWeb

"A great opportunity to get inside the mind of a Gold medalist and learn about what it takes to win at the highest level."

Gybe Magazine

"A fascinating autobiography."

Sailing Magazine

"Lily's biography is far more than a sailing book; along the way you will gain a great insight into a culture so alien to ours."

Yachting Life

"Apart from containing a lot of tips to improve her sailing, the book is a gold mine of information for a person looking to improve in any sport or in life in general."

Laser World