Shaolin Sándor Liu

Born to a Chinese father and a Hungarian mother, Liu started the sport in 2006. Before taking up skating, Liu and his brother Shaoang swam for two years, but they frequently got colds as a result.[3] After looking for different sports to compete in, they took up short track speed skating.

In 2006 the World Championships were held in Hungary. Their father assisted the Chinese team during their stay, helping with their stay and with guiding them around.[3] After the Chinese team suggested his two sons should go train in China due to their half-Chinese ethnicity,[3] Liu's father agreed to take the boys to China, where they trained for one and a half years.[3] After returning from China they began to win various minor competitions in Europe.[3] In 2012 Zhang Jing came from China to coach Liu and his brother.[3]

Liu represented Hungary at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[4] He has won multiple medals at the World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships.[5] and placed third overall at the 2016 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.[6]

He finished in fifth position at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the men's 1500m event before winning gold in the 5000m relay, which was also Hungary's first-ever Winter Olympics title.[7]

Liu's younger brother Shaoang Liu is also a short track speed skater. He was second in the 1500m, third in the 500m, and fifth overall at the 2016 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.[8] Though born to a Chinese father from Tianjin, Liu speaks Chinese with a noticeable Northeastern accent due to his year and a half spent in the Northeastern region of China. He was in a relationship with fellow speed skater Elise Christie from 2015 to 2018.[9][10]

Media related to Shaolin Sándor Liu at Wikimedia Commons

• Sandor Liu Shaolin at the International Skating Union
• Sandor Liu Shaolin at the International Olympic Committee