Best Results in FIG Competitions

Men's team ranking--1st team in World Championships of 1983, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003; 1st team in 2000 Olympic Games

Men's AA ranking--Li Ning 1st in 1982 World Cup and 1986 World Cup; Li Xiao Shuang 1st in 1995 World Championships and 1996 Olympic Games; Feng Jing 1st in 2001 World Championships

Women's team ranking--2nd team in 1981 and 1995 World Championships

Women's AA ranking--Liu Xuan 3rd (*) in 2000 Olympic Games; Zhang Nan 3rd in 2003 World Championships

Chinese World/Olympic Champions

Perhaps the most glorious mark of being a Chinese gymnast is to have your picture listed on the Champions' Wall. At the National Gymnastics Training Center in Beijing, there is a wall solely for listing pictures of all the Chinese World/Olympic champions. Only gymnasts who win a gold medal from Olympics Games, World Championships, or World Cup finals are considered a true world champion in China. They have the glory of posting their pictures on the Champions' Wall. This wall gives motivations to every Chinese gymnast when they are in training. The following lists all the Chinese world champions:

Men

Dong Zhen--1999 World Championships team, SR champion

Fan Bin--1995 World Championships team champion; 1997 World Championships team champion

Fan Hong Bin--1994 Team World Championships team champion; 1995 World Championships team champion

Feng Jing--2001 World Championships AA champion; Feng Jing is holding the FIG record as the current youngest male all-around champion

Guo Lin Yao--1994 Team World Championships team champion

Huang Hua Dong--1994 Team World Championships team champion; 1995 World Championships team champion

Huang Li Ping--1994 Team World Championships team champion; 1994 EF World Championships PB champion; 1995 World Championships team champion

Huang Yu Bin--1980 World Cup SR champion; the first male Chinese gymnastics champion

Huang Xu--1997 World Championships team champion; 1999 World Championships team champion; 2000 Olympic Games team champion; 2003 World Championships team champion

Li Chun Yang--1989 World Championships HB champion; 1991 World Championships HB champion

Li Da Shuang--1994 Team World Championships team champion

Li Jing--1989 World Championships PB champion; 1990 World Cup PH champion; 1991 World Championships PB champion; 1992 EF World Championships PB, PH champion; 1994 Team World Championships team champion

Li Ning--1982 World Cup AA, FX, HB, PM, SR, VT champion; 1983 World Championships team champion; 1984 Olympic Games FX, PH, SR champion; 1985 World Championships SR champion; 1986 World Cup AA, FX, PH champion

Li Xiao Peng--1997 World Championships team champion; 1998 World Cup FX, PB champion; 1999 World Championships team, VT champion; 2000 Olympic Games team, PB champion; 2002 World Championships PB, VT champion; 2002 World Cup PB champion; 2003 World Championships team, VT, PB champion;

Li Xiao Ping--1981 World Championships PH champion; 1983 World Championships team champion

Li Xiao Shuang--1992 Olympic Games FX champion; 1994 Team World Championships team champion; 1995 World Championships team, AA champion; 1996 Olympic Games AA champion

Li Yue Jiu--1980 World Cup PB champion; 1981 World Championships FX champion; 1983 World Championships team champion

Lou Yun--1983 World Championships team champion; 1984 Olympic Games VT champion; 1987 World Championships FX, VT champion; 1988 Olympic Games VT champion

Lu Bin--2002 World Cup VT champion

Lu Yu Fu--1997 World Championships team champion; 1999 World Championships team champion

Shen Jian--1995 World Championships team champion; 1997 World Championships team champion

Teng Hai Bin--2003 World Championships team, PH champion

Tong Fei--1982 World Cup HB champion; 1983 World Championships team, FX champion; 1985 World Championships FX, HB champion

Xiao Jun Feng--1997 World Championships team champion; 2000 Olympic Games team champion

Xiao Qin--2003 World Championships team champion

Xing Ao Wei--1999 World Championships team champion; 2000 Olympic Games team champion; 2003 World Championships team champion

Xu Zhi Qiang--1983 World Championships team champion; 1986 World Cup PB champion

Yang Wei--1999 World Championships team champion; 2000 Olympic Games team champion; 2003 World Championships team champion

Zhang Jin Jing--1995 World Championships team champion; 1997 World Championships team, PB champion; 1998 World Cup PB, PH champion

Zheng Li Hui--2000 Olympic Games team champion

Women

Bi Wen Jing--1998 World Cup UB champion

Fan Di--1989 World Championships UB champion

Fan Ye--2003 World Championships BB champion

Kui Yuan Yuan--1996 EF World Championships FX champion

Ling Jie--1999 World Championships BB champion; 2000 World Cup UB champion

Liu Xuan--1998 World Cup BB champion; 2000 Olympic Games BB champion

Lu Li--1992 Olympic Games UB champion

Luo Li--1994 World Championships UB champion

Ma Yang Hong--1979 World Championships UB champion; 1984 Olympic Games UB champion; the first female Chinese gymnastics champion

Mo Hui Lan--1995 World Championships BB champion

Sun Xiao Jiao--2002 World Cup BB champion

Yang Bo--1990 World Cup BB champion

Skills Named After Chinese Gymnasts

The Chinese consider five words as gymnastics virtues. These words are stated on a large slogan posting inside the training center in Beijing: CONSISTENCY, DIFFICULTY, ARTISTRY, INNOVATION, and AMPLITUDE. To the rest of the world, they are well known for their daring difficulty and inspirational innovations. Artistry seems to be overlooked by the judges today, but the Chinese are working hard to improve in that area too, notably reflected by the switch of style in the women's floor exercise. Consistency is not a common feature found in Chinese gymnastics. Once they master that, the Chinese will prove everyone that they could be unbeatable. The following lists the skills in the Code that are invented by Chinese:

Floor Exercise

Li Yue Jiu--straddled 1 3/4 side salto with quarter turn to roll out (D)

Lou Yun--full-twisting straddled double salto (E)

Tong Fei--full-twisting butterfly (C)

Pommel horse

Li Ning--Scissor forward with quarter turn to handstand on one pommel, lower to straddled support on both pommels (D)

Tong Fei--from front support on end, Russian wende forward to other end (D)

Wang Chong Sheng--flair handstand, pirouette, flair handstand, pirouette, Healy down to undercut (C)

Still Rings

Li Ning--from hang, swing through inverted hang (without dislocating) to front uprise (B)

Li Ning--from support, back toss to hang (without dislocating) to front uprise (C)

Li Xiao Shuang--from support, lower with straight arms to hang, then pull to cross or L-cross (D)

Vault

Lou Yun--handspring-1 1/2-twisting layout front salto (9.8)

Li Xiao Peng--round-off half-on layout front 2.5 twists (10)

Parallel Bars

Li Dong Hua--on one bar, glide jam to V, hop with half turn over far bar to glide on far bar (C)

Li Xiao Peng--from hang to pike double back in between the bars (sE)

High Bar

Zou Li Min--one-arm front giant with full turn to elgrip and full turn back to undergrip (D -> C)

Xiao Rui Zhi--swing forward to counter front straddled salto to regrasp in undergrip (D)

They also list a 'Chung' here, but from the way the name is spelled I think he is Taiwanese, Hongkongnese or Korean, not main land Chinese. It's an interesting element--from one bar, undergrip swing, Jaeger to other bar (D).

Vault

Wang Hui Ying--handspring-layout front with a half turn (9.9 -> 9.7)

Uneven Bars

Bi Wen Jing--inverted giant, full pirouette on one arm (E)

Li Li--Steinemann followed by reverse cut to hang (D)

Ling Jie--forward giant started in L grip, full pirouette finished before handstand with free arm hop, ended in L grip (E -> D)

Liu Xuan--one-arm back giant (B!)

Liu Xuan--one-arm giant followed by Jaeger (C -> D, finally)

Luo Li--from handstand, stoop in to forward seat circle, dislocate to elgrip handstand (D -> E)

Ma Yan Hong--clear hip circle to full pirouette in handstand (D)

Ma Yan Hong--back hip circle, hecht to full-twisting back salto dismount (E -> super E)

Mao Yan Ling--back giant with full pirouette to elgrip (D)

Mo Hui Lan--front giant, tucked front salto over bar to hang in undergrip (E -> super E)

Zhang Wen Ning--back uprise in reverse grip to stoop or straddle vault over high bar to regrasp (C)

The Ma dismount is the oldest super E element in the Code. It was first done in the seventies and is still rated super E!

Balance Beam

Bi Wen Jing--double-twisting front salto dismount (from both feet) (D) [taken out of the code]

Chen Cui Ting--tucked-open Korbut (C) [taken out of code]

Li Li--1 1/4 turn on back in piked position (C)

Li Li--side handstand, Healy twirl to rear support (C)

Yang Bo--jump to oversplit with arched upper body (E -> D)

Many thanks to Martine Jellema, who helped me to find out the information of these skills from the IG magazine (March and April issues of 1998).

Back to home