1982 won the second place in the national junior competition and was transferred to Mudanjiang Sports School for training. 1987 Joined China National Short Track Speed Skating Team. 1988, Li Yan won the women's 1000 m gold medal and the 500 m and 1500 m bronze medals in the short track speed skating performance in Calgary Winter Olympics. 1992, Li Yan won the 500-meter silver medal in the Albertville Winter Olympics. She is the person who started the history of short track speed skating in China. 1988, Li Yan won the women's 1000 m gold medal and the 500 m and 1500 m bronze medals in the short track speed skating performance in Calgary Winter Olympics, and set new world records of 1000 m and 1500 m respectively. She won the gold medal in the short track speed skating 1000m exhibition competition as a performance event at that time, and was called "Long Xiang" by Canadians at that time.

Li Yan 1990 participated in the second Sapporo Asian Winter Games, 1500m won the third place, and won the 3000m relay championship with her teammates.

1992 Albertville Winter Olympics won the silver medal in women's 500-meter short track speed skating, which was China's first Olympic medal.

And won 500, 1000m gold medal and all-around silver medal in the 1992 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, which is also the best ranking of China short track speed skating in all-around world championships. Shortly after his retirement, he worked as an assistant coach in China short track speed skating training team and participated in the winter Olympics in Lillehammer 1994. 1994 left China national short track speed skating team (then called training team).

1994 to 1998, majoring in international finance at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics. After graduation, he settled in Dalian Local Taxation Bureau and became a clerk at the deputy department level.

1999 went to Slovakia to coach the short track speed skating team. In one year, Slovakia won the fourth place in two individual events and the sixth place in all-around, which caused a sensation in Europe. Soon, he became the head coach of the Austrian short track speed skating team and led the Austrian short track speed skating team out of the trough in less than 10 months. In 2003, he went to the United States to coach the National Youth Team. Three months later, he was promoted to head coach of the national team. In 2006, he led American star Apollo to participate in the Winter Olympics in Turin. Apollo broke the monopoly of South Korea, won the gold medal in men's 500-meter short track speed skating, and shattered Hyun-Soo Ahn's dream of winning three consecutive championships in South Korea (finally ending the Turin Winter Olympics with 3 gold 1 bronze medal).

On May 24th, 2006, he returned to China as the head coach of China's short track speed skating team, and achieved good results in the Asian Winter Games, World Championships and Winter Olympics.

At the 20 10 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Li Yan led Wang Meng to win the 500-meter short track speed skating championship, making Wang Meng the first champion in China to successfully defend his title in the Winter Olympics. After Wang Meng finished the game, he knelt on the ice and thanked coach Li Yan.

On 20 10 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Li Yan led Zhou Yang to win the 1500m short track speed skating championship. It broke the monopoly of short track speed skating in South Korea and became the first non-Korean player to win the gold medal in the Winter Olympics.

At 20 10 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Li Yan led the China women's team composed of Wang Meng, Zhou Yang, Zhang Hui and Sun to break the women's 3000m relay world record with a time of 4: 06.610, and won the Winter Olympics crown and the fourth gold medal for China. This gold medal not only broke the Korean team's monopoly on relay events for four consecutive Winter Olympics, but also was the first team gold medal of the China delegation in the history of the Winter Olympics.

At the 20 10 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Li Yan led Wang Meng and Zhou Yang to win the women's 1000 meter final. In the end, Wang Meng won the championship, and the China women's short track speed skating team won all four gold medals, setting a record for the Winter Olympics. Wang Meng also became the third "triple crown king" in the history of the Winter Olympics after Chen Shanyou and Hyun-Soo Ahn. Wang Meng called it "a woman who changed the history of short track speed skating in China."

On 2010 May 16, the Winter Sports Management Center of the State Sports General Administration announced that it had officially renewed its contract with Li Yan. As the head coach of China's short track speed skating team, Li Yan continued to lead the team to the 2008+04 Sochi Winter Olympics.

In 20 14, Li Yan, as the head coach of the China team, led a team to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and the China team reached the finals in all eight men's and women's events, winning 2 gold and 3 silver 1 bronze!