[1] In 1999, when she was twelve, Xu Lijia narrowly escaped death in a sudden storm while training on the open sea off the coast of Fujian Province with her coach and teammates.

[9] During a routine physical examination before the 2004 Summer Olympics, doctors found a giant-cell tumor of bone near Xu Lijia's left knee.

She initially hoped to postpone the tumor-removal surgery until after the Olympics, but doctors warned that the tumor could spread within months which would necessitate amputation of the leg.

After winning a gold medal at the 2009 National Games of China,[3] Xu took a long break from the sport in order to recover from her back injuries and to commence her studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, majoring in Business Management.

[1] On 6 August 2012, Xu Lijia won the gold medal in the women's Laser Radial race at the 2012 Summer Olympics, beating Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands and Evi Van Acker of Belgium.