Liu Xiaotong retires: Chinese Olympic volleyball champion to become a coach, saying ‘the thing I missed most was my passion’
- The 31-year-old Beijing captain and league outside spiker MVP is to take up assistant coaching role at the club
- ‘I defended all my national team coaches and teammates during the different ups and downs,’ Liu says
Olympic champion volleyball player Liu Xiaotong has announced her retirement from the sport after a career filled with “ups and downs”.
The 31-year-old outside spiker will reportedly assume the role of assistant coach at long-time Chinese Women’s Volleyball League team Beijing Baic Motor, whom she captained to a first title in 2018-19 when she was named the league’s best outside spiker.
“I have been planning this for a while,” the Jilin native said in a video posted on the China national women’s volleyball team’s official Weibo account on Thursday.
“The thing I missed most was my passion for volleyball. Since I started playing at the age of 12, for almost 20 years, what I miss is the passion to contribute to the sport.
“From 2013 to now with the national team, I defended all my coaches and teammates, during the different ups and downs. I faced a lot of difficulties, so thanks for everyone’s support over these years to allow me to gracefully represent the team.
