Golden Lily - Ten Years On: Asia’s First Dinghy Sailing Gold Medallist (Making Waves)

An inspirational story of a young woman’s will to succeed despite all that her background threw at her.Golden Lily is the fascinating autobiography from Asia’s first ever dinghy sailing gold medallist.It tells of her learning to sail and becoming a full-time athlete at just 10 years old. At that age Lijia Xu was taken away from her parents and enrolled in the gruelling Chinese training regime, a programme meticulously prescribed across all sporting disciplines to catapult the nation’s talented youngsters to international champions.It is 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.Now, ten years since its first publication, Lily has updated the story. She tells of her third and final Olympic campaign at Rio 2016 and then training to be a sports journalist and covering Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 as a reporter. Lijia opens up about her secret relationship with her English coach and their subsequent marriage, as well as talking about her post-Olympic sailing including IMOCA 60s, M32s, J80s and Waszps.This is an inspirational story of a young woman’s will to succeed despite all that her background threw at her.Table of ContentsForewordPrologueChapter 1: Golden LilyChapter 2: My FamilyChapter 3: Becoming a SportswomanChapter 4: Training to be a ProfessionalChapter 5: My Optimist YearsChapter 6: My Time in the Europe ClassChapter 7: Studying EnglishChapter 8: Learning from OthersChapter 9: Getting to Grips with the Laser RadialChapter 10: My First Olympics & the Build UpChapter 11: My Puppy LoveChapter 12: A Slow RecoveryChapter 13: Finally Teaming Up with Jon EmmettChapter 14: The Cracks Begin to ShowChapter 15: Getting Better… Then WorseChapter 16: The Final Road to WeymouthChapter 17: Olympic GloryChapter 18: Heat after LondonChapter 19: A New PathChapter 20: 2016 Rio Olympic GamesChapter 21: Mr Jonathan EmmettChapter 22: Transitioning to a Career in Sports MediaChapter 23: Post-Olympic SailingChapter 24: Thoughts about ChinaChapter 25: Acknowledge the Cultural DifferencesAchievementsWhat People Have Said About Golden LilyBibliography Read more