View source for Bai Xue

{{short description|Chinese long-distance runner}}
{{About|a Chinese athlete|the Chinese actress whose birth name is Xue Bai|Bai Baihe}}
{{family name hatnote|Bai|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name           = Bai Xue
| image          = Bai Xue.JPG
| image_size     = 200px
| caption        = Bai at the 2009 World Championships
| birth_date     = {{birth-date and age|15 December 1988}}
| birth_place    = [[Yi'an County]], [[Qiqihar]], [[Heilongjiang]], China
| headercolor    = lightsteelblue
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport|Women's [[Sport of athletics|athletics]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{CHN}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics|2009 Berlin]]|[[2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's Marathon|Marathon]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Asian Athletics Championships|Asian Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2005 Asian Athletics Championships|2005 Incheon]]|[[2005 Asian Athletics Championships – Women's 5000 metres|5000 m]]}}
{{MedalGold|2005 Incheon|[[2005 Asian Athletics Championships – Women's 10,000 metres|10,000 m]]}}
}}
'''Bai Xue''' ({{zh|c=白雪}}; name means ''White Snow''; born 15 December 1988) is a female [[PR China|Chinese]] long-distance runner who specializes in the [[10,000 metres]].

==Career==
Bai won both the 5000 and the 10,000 metres at the [[2005 Asian Championships in Athletics|2005 Asian Championships]], and she finished fourth in the 5,000 m at the [[2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics|2006 World Junior Championships]]. She finished twenty-first in the 10,000 metres at the [[Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 10,000 metres|Olympic Games]]. She won the [[Beijing Marathon]] in 2008.

==2009 World Championships==

The Berlin 2009 Marathon event was Bai's first time taking part in World Championships and only second time taking part in an international marathon. She won the 2009 World Championships Women's Marathon gold medal, becoming the youngest ever women's world marathon champion at the age of 20.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/23/content_11932450.htm |title=China's Bai becomes youngest ever women's world marathon champion_English_Xinhua |website=news.xinhuanet.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102173145/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/23/content_11932450.htm |archive-date=2012-11-02}} </ref> Bai pulled away from Japan's [[Yoshimi Ozaki]] in the last kilometer to finish the 42.195&nbsp;km race in two hours 25 minutes and 15 seconds.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j195Y0M_6zSG_eY44NqogXkdn9yA |title=AFP: China's Xue Bai wins marathon |website=[[Google News]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906145118/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j195Y0M_6zSG_eY44NqogXkdn9yA |archive-date=2009-09-06}} </ref>

Bai Xue became the first Chinese athlete to win a marathon race at the World Championships. It was also the first gold medal for China in the event in Berlin, taking its medal tally to 1-1-2. And it was also the first gold in 10 years for Chinese women athletes' at the world championships. [[Liu Hongyu]] won the last gold medal in the women's 10&nbsp;km walk in Seville in 1999. She is also the second Chinese to win a major international marathon after [[Zhou Chunxiu]], who took the [[London Marathon]] title in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/23/content_11932450.htm |title=China's Bai becomes youngest ever women's world marathon champion_English_Xinhua |website=news.xinhuanet.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102173145/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/23/content_11932450.htm |archive-date=2012-11-02}} </ref> She returned to China after the championships and defended her title at the Beijing Marathon, beating young national opposition in [[Zhang Xin (runner)|Zhang Xin]] and [[Zhu Xiaoling]].<ref>Yung, Jean (2009-10-18). [http://www.iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=54705.html Bai and Mugo take Beijing Maraton titles]. [[IAAF]]. Retrieved on 2009-10-18.</ref>

She continued her good form at the [[Athletics at the 2009 National Games of China|11th Chinese National Games]] a few weeks later, setting a 10,000&nbsp;m personal best on the way to winning the gold medal. At the [[2010 London Marathon]], she was in contention for much of the race but fell away at the 30&nbsp;km point, ending up in seventh place with a run of 2:25:18.<ref>Brown, Matthew (2010-04-25). [http://www.iaaf.org/LRR10/news/newsid=56560.html Commanding victories for Kebede and Shobukhova - London Marathon report]. [[IAAF]]. Retrieved on 2010-04-28.</ref>

==Personal bests==
Her personal best times are:
*[[1500 metres]]⁣ – 4:24.51 min (2004)
*[[3000 metres]]⁣ – 9:16.32 min (2004)
*[[5000 metres]]⁣ – 15:09.84 min (2007)
*[[10,000 metres]]⁣ – 31:17.62 min (2009)
*[[Marathon]]⁣ – 2:23:27 hrs (2008)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{sports links}}
* [http://2008teamchina.olympic.cn/index.php/personview/personsen/5510 Team China 2008]
* [http://marathoninfo.free.fr/athletes/chine/xue_bai.htm marathoninfo]

{{Footer World Champions Marathon Women}}
{{Footer Asian Champions women's 5000 metres}}
{{Footer Asian Champions women's 10,000 metres}}
{{Xinhua News Agency's Top Ten Chinese Athletes of the Year}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bai, Xue}}
[[Category:1988 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Chinese female marathon runners]]
[[Category:Chinese female long-distance runners]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for China]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Qiqihar]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:Runners from Heilongjiang]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Asian Games athletes for China]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:Asian Athletics Championships winners]]