Thanks to the big show that was the London Olympics, the year 2012 witnessed a skyrocketing of Chinese athletes' wealth. According to the 2012 Highest-earning Chinese Athletes Ranking released by Titan Weekly, a popular Chinese sports newspaper, the members of this elusive top ten all earned more than 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) last year. Five spots among them were taken by Chinese Olympians.

On the 2012 list, China's most famous tennis player Li Na kept the crown for the richest Chinese athlete of the year, with a total income of 112.43 million yuan (US$18.04 million), even higher than the sum of her four nearest followers.

Read on to find out more about the highest-earning Chinese athletes of 2012.

   Yi Siling (易思玲)

Sport: Shooting

Age: 24

2012 earnings: 11 million yuan (US$1.76 million)

2011 ranking: N/A

Yi Siling, born in May of 1989 in Hunan Province, is a member of the Chinese Olympic shooting team. After joining the national team in 2008, Yi obtained a second place in the 10-meter air rifle event during the Asian Championships one year later.

In 2010, she won the women's 10-meter air rifle final during the 2010 Munich Championships with a total score of 505.6 points, breaking the previous world record of 505.0 points. On July 28, 2012, Yi won the 10m air rifle title in London, becoming the very first gold medalist of the XXX Olympiad.

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