Tian Yumei (Chinese: 田玉梅; born 28 December 1965) is a Chinese former track and fieldsprinter. Her personal best of 11.06 seconds for the 100 metres was set in 1997. She was a three-time Chinese champion in individual sprints.
She enjoyed success with the Chinese 4×100 metres relay team from 1987 to 1993. She shared in the Asian title in 1987, 1991 and 1993, as well as the 1990 Asian Games title. The team competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and took the gold medals at the IAAF World Cup the same year.
Tian made her second Olympic appearance at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She reached the quarterfinals of the 100 m for a second time and also ran in the heats of the relay competition, alongside Gao Han, Chen Zhaojing, and Xiao Yehua.[2] The quartet regrouped for the 1992 IAAF World Cup held in Havana and they claimed the women's relay time with a time of 43.63 seconds. Tian also won the individual bronze medal, running 11.44 seconds for third place behind home favourite Liliana Allen.[6] The 7th Chinese National Games in September 1993 saw Chinese sprinting reach new heights: Tian set a personal best of 11.24 seconds for the 100 m but was beaten into second place by Liu Xiaomei, who broke the Asian record for the event with her run of 11.02 seconds. Tian also helped Guangxi to the relay National Games title.[7] Three months later Tian defeated Liu in the 100 m at the 1993 Asian Athletics Championships to retain her regional title in a time of 11.36 seconds. The pair teamed up to secure the 4×100 m relay title for China for a fourth consecutive title.[4]
Tian did not appear on an international podium again after 1993. Her last outing at a major event was the 1997 Chinese National Games. She set a 100 m personal best of 11.06 seconds to place third behind Liu and Li Xuemei (the latter setting the current Asian record of 10.79 seconds). The games was seriously marred by doping – many champions were stripped of their titles and the overall level of performances remain questionable to international audiences.[8] Tian was a relay silver medallist in the National Games with Guangxi and this proved to be her last major medal.[9]