Liao Xiaoyan

Liao Xiaoyan (born 8 January 1987) is a Chinese track and field athlete who competes in the hammer throw. She was the gold medallist at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships.

Among her first major national competitions was the 2005 Chinese City Games, where she was runner-up to future Olympic medallist Zhang Wenxiu. While Zhang had the second best throw ever by a youth athlete, Liao's throw of ranked her the fifth best ever youth at that point. She still ranks within the top ten youth hammer throwers, as of 2015. She established herself within the top senior domestic athletes in the 2005 season. She threw a new personal best of to place fifth at the Chinese Athletics Championships. She came close to her best in the 2006 season with a mark of.

Liao achieved her personal best of in May 2007 in Zhaoqing. The season was the peak of her career as she won the gold medal at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships in a comparatively low calibre field, where her throw of was sufficient to win by several metres. She failed to make the Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, ending the season with a best of that year. She had a best of in 2009, but ceased to compete at a high level thereafter.