February 28, 2000

Xin Wen Evening Paper

http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/200002/2826541.shtml

When I was talking with Lu Shan Zhen, a familiar face passed me. That was the smiling Liu Xuan. "She is still training? She is already in the 20's." Lu explained to me: "Liu Xuan not only has not retired, she is in good shape. She had good performance last year and the year before."

Qian Kui told me, Liu Xuan planned to retire after the 1996 Olympic Games. At that time there was no reliable and experienced gymnast in the team, she was asked to stay. The "treasured girl" Liu Xuan set an example for the whole team.

I started chatting with Liu Xuan. She is a smart girl. "My coaches always make fun of me. They said I have broken many records in the team--the oldest World Champion (I was almost 20 when I became a World Champion on beam), the oldest team member (I am 21 this year, the oldest female gymnast ever on the Chinese team). It doesn't matter. I love gymnastics, so the longer I train, the younger I feel. I don't feel I am old." She laughed, and asked me: "Do you feel I look younger? Once Coach Liu Qun Lin was looking for me in the gym. She said I look no different than other little girls. Although gymnastics is very difficult, I have a happy mood here. I practice with them, so I feel younger."

For her three years of training [in this group], Liu Xuan emotionally said, she got all of these with the help of her two coaches. In the 1996 Olympics, Liu Xuan did not perform well. She was in the worst ever depression and decided to retire. At the end, she stayed because of her love of the sport and her responsibility to the team.

The older Liu Xuan had big challenges. 1996 was the most difficult year. She has to reduce weight. She stopped training for a long period of time after the OG. The easy-to-gain-weight Liu Xuan was very heavy. Everyone else in the cafeteria has nutritious food. Dieting was not easy for Liu Xuan. Sometimes she couldn't control herself, she then didn't go to the cafeteria. She only ate fruits in her dorm. "My coaches did not force me to reduce weight. But the more they trust me, the more I have to be responsible to them. I became a lot more matured during that period of time. Now I can control myself much better, because I am the team captain. If not I won't be able to set an example to others." Liu Xuan is very happy about the fact that she has passed those hard times.

Aging is not to be feared. "I got one gold in the World Cup and three golds in Thailand because my coaches have changed the way I train. I have learned to get used to the new way. I can't restore strength fast. I train one day and need three days to regain the strength. Sometimes it is very tiresome. I need to try very hard to keep it up. Now it becomes better and better."

After the successful year of 1998, Liu Xuan faced another challenge. She trained very hard in the first half of 1999, but she did not have good performance. Liu Xuan once again, considered retirement. She sent her retirement report to the management center. Both Zhang Jian and Gao Jian were very anxious: "The 1999 WC is coming soon. The team needs you." Lu Shan Zhen also tried to convince her: "We have devoted a lot of hard work that we should devote to you. You don't have to feel guilty. Let's start all over again." The emotional Liu Xuan cried, and once again, decided to stay.

Mental strength is more important than everything else. As said by her coach, Liu Xuan discarded all her previous glories. She started training earlier and stopped later everyday. She won AA again in July in the Nationals. It really surprised her coaches. Liu Xuan regained her confidence and did so well in Tianjin--she even got the highest score on vault for the team.

The 2000 OG is not far away. Liu Xuan is full of confidence.

(end)

February 28, 2000

Sports Reference Paper

http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/200002/2826533.shtml

Zhang Jin Jing recently revealed his plan after he retired: "For certain I want to to go Canada with my girlfriend, but I haven't set the time yet. It could be right after the Olympics, or after the 9th National Games."

To be honest, he doesn't want to continue training after the Olympics, because gymnastics is very tiresome and difficult today, plus "my two wrists are almost broken. Unless I stop training, it is very painful. Now I have to rely on medication to reduce the pain."

His will to retire started before the 1999 Worlds, "everything was not smooth in that period. First my left wrist was injured, then my right wrist was injured. I rarely had injuries before, now they all come at the same time. It is hard to get used to them." When he was depressed, his coach and his girlfriend gave him big supports. "My coach said: 'there are only 8 months left for the Olympics. Given your ability, your technical level, it will not be hard to recover. Why give up now? It will not be a prison for that 8 months.' My girlfriend also told me: 'Winning an Olympic gold medal has been your dream for many years. How many dreams can one realize in life?' I agree. Since I started gymnastics at 5, I have had many hard times. It will only be 8 more months. Time will go in a blink. Also I have competed at an Olympic Games before. I know what it means to an athlete. I decided to stay and continue training."

Now his focus is not to increase difficulty. He doesn't need more difficulty. He only needs to have all his skills back and be more consistent. That should be fine for the Olympics.

Zhang Jin Jing's girlfriend is a Chinese Canadian. She has graduated MBA. To support Zhang, she got a job in Beijing. "We have discussed this. If I win a gold medal in Olympics, I will go to Canada with her immediately; if not, I will stay until the 9th National Games. I am a member of the Beijing team. I have to give them my best work before I leave." Zhang Jin Jing is always interested in computer. He wants to develop his future in that field.

(end)

February 25, 2000

http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/200002/2525963.shtml

Chinese Sports Newspaper

The Chinese team's winter camp, which started on the New Year's Day is almost reaching its ending. Huang Yu Bin thinks of it as a success: "The process is very smooth, especially there's no major injuries. In the past, injury was a big problem."

For the Olympics, big Huang clearly stated the goal for the team--men's team gold. If they get it, the following competition would be just a matter of making the results better, and it would be a lot less pressure.

In Tianjin, big Huang said that the Chinese men's team was "the best Chinese team ever in history." Now he still thinks the same: "Talking about physical abilities, this team roster is the best. No one has a major injury. In the previous team, both Huang Li Ping's ankle injury and Huang Hua Dong's tendon injury were weakness of the team. Now almost everyone on the team is a good all-arounder. It adds a lot to the team."

The Chinese men have won four World Championships in a row, but they've never won an Olympic Games before. They want to break that record in Sydney. The 27th OG would be a great chance to fulfill their dream. The Chinese men were defeated by the Russian men in Atlanta, but they won it back in Tianjin with a big margin. This should give them some mental advantage.

Big Huang considers Russia the only obstacle of the men's team gold of the Chinese boys. Although many people think that the Chinese men had absolute advantage as a team over the Russian men, mainly reflected by the results in Tianjin. The Russians don't think the same. They are very confident of beating the Chinese again in the coming Olympics: "We agree the Chinese men form an excellent team, but they're not fearful. In all the Olympics, we beat them, and Sydney will be no exception." The Russian team sharply pointed out the fact that the Chinese could easily make mistakes, and they are not very complementary. Which was very true in Atlanta. Big Huang said: "Complementary is very important in team competitions. One member makes a mistake, all others must fight it back. Only being able to complement each other would bring you to the highest stand on the medal podium."

The Chinese have won four gold medals in Tianjin, but their goal for Sydney is only a maximum of three golds to a minimum of one gold. Isn't this too conservative? Big Huang disagreed: "Compared with the Tianjin Worlds, the Olympic Games has very different meaning, different location, and different timing. They simply cannot be compared. We were at home in Tianjin. Only two hours of bus would take us there. For Sydney, we will have to fly many hours, and we will have to face the picky European and American judges. It will be a much more difficult situation."

The trend of gymnastics today is more diverse distribution of medals among many countries. Most members of the Chinese team are young gymnasts. They lack experience, and they have to improve their technical level and consistency. The women's team has many competitions. It will not be easy for them to maintain a medal position. Their technical quality of vault and floor basically cannot be compared with the Russians, the Romanians, and the Americans. For example, in Tianjin, the Chinese women were 1.104 points behind the Romanians, but they were 1.406 points behind the Romanians solely on vault. Although we have increased strength training on vault and floor, but it will be hard to have a big step forward in such a short time for the coming Olympics.

For the men, they are not perfect yet. A few members on the A team, e.g., Huang Xu and Lu Yu Fu, still have little form problems that could cause deductions. In Tianjin, the Chinese men made many mistakes on their strong events--pommel horse and parallel bars in individual competitions, hence lost their chance to win a gold medal. On floor and high bar, no one had a stuck landing. This really shows our members are not mature yet, physically or mentally.

When he was asked which member would be put on the Olympic team, big Huang pitifully answered it was not the time to disclose the roster yet: "Please understand us for not saying who will be a hopeful [to be put on the team]. Gymnastics is our strong event. All the provinces and cities want to have their own gymnasts on the [Olympic] team. Being a main coach, if I say inappropriate words, it would cause misunderstandings among people. That would not help us make a good decision."

Anyway, he revealed that he has said before Tianjin that the Olympic team will be basically the same as the World team. The most updated information is: through the past few months of training, there could be a big change in the Olympic roster. However, he did not disclose details on any specific gymnast.

Now there are 14 members in the training camp (for the men's team). Based on the individual competition in Hubei in May, the list will be shrunk to 8 to 10 members. The final roster will be announced at the end of June.

On February 26th, there will be an internal test to see the results of the winter camp.

(end)

October 8, 1999

Sports Newspaper

http://www.sport.gov.cn/paper/tyb/991008/b502.htm

The last World Championship of the millennium is to be held in Tianjin. Many gymnastic stars are gathering in competitions. There are media that consider two girls--Bai Chun Yue and Vanessa Atler as dark horses in this World Championship.

If you do a survey, the Beijing girl Bai Chun Yue who represents the Chinese team in Tianjin could become the shortest gymnast. She is 1.31m high and weights 31kg. Yes, she is very short, but she has big skills. Her strong events are vault and beam. She could be a dark horse.

Bai Chun Yue, born 16 years ago in a night with full moon in spring. Chun Yue's name was given by her grandfather. Her family calls her "Bai Yue" (i.e., the white moon), and her teammates all call her "Yue Yue." However, she looks like someone very much, that she has a nickname--little Dong Wen Hua (a Chinese star.)

Strong member on the women's team

Bai Chun Yue won the AA silver in this year's National in May. To prepare for the WC, she transferred to Coach Liu Gui Cheng and Xie Zhi Min's group. Xie and Liu changed the design of her routines and it brings good results. It only took Bai Chun Yue five lessons to learn the "handspring front layout 540 degrees" vault. This is the first successful 10.0 vault in the current women's team. Her coaches see the hope: if Yue Yue can have another vault with 9.9 SV, she could be a strong contender on this event for China, who has been weak on vaulting.

Gymnasts in general are short, but Yue Yue is too short. However she has some advantage: imagine a childish looking girl seriously competing on beam and bars, and her skills are so perfect. She would be eye-catching.

Calls herself "stupid child" ("Stupid Child" is the title of a song by Andy Lau, who used to be Lu Li's idol)

"Ice can't stop flowing water; dry grass always has new life." This is a sentence on the front page of Yue Yue's diary. She told me, it's an idiom said by a monk in Jet Li's movie.

"I always say that sentence to myself. I am stupid--in terms of reaction, acceptability, and body factor, I am not as good as other members."

Some people may think that Yue Yue's gymnastics is light and difficult, but she knows she has very heavy bones. "I have to put much more strength [to do a skill] than others."

All of Yue Yue's routines are specifically designed to suit her body. She is afraid of shape change. She has special method to maintain her weight: "I do more exercise. When everyone is done, I still stay in the gym." I asked her which gymnast she admire a lot. Yue Yue did not pick Khorkina or Podkopayeva as many, "I am so envious of the American gymnasts, but I don't know their names. Most of them are chubby, but they can do their skills so light, and so easy."

Yue Yue writes diary everyday. She puts in details of daily training and feelings. Sometimes it is almost 1000 words a day. She proudly told me: "I have very detailed diary. Before I was in Coach Wang Li Ming's group. He told everyone to write diary, which is not required in any other group. Now I am transferred to a new group. I still have this habit. Coach Liu is supportive to me about this."

People call her little Dong Wen Hua

She laughed: "So many people call me this. My teammates see me everyday, so they don't make joke of it that often. When I go out of the gym, almost everyone says this. But I have never seen Aunt Dong Wen Hua in person!"

Yue Yue has a special mark: she always has short cut like a boy. The interesting part is, she has a hair tail about 5cm long. That style was designed by her previous coach Wang Li Ming. Yue Yue has been like this for 6 years. It becomes her trademark. Why doesn't she change her hair now? "The best style is what suits you the best. When I feel it doesn't suit me anymore, I will change my hair look."

Stay close with Mama

Yue Yue started gymnastics at 6. Similar to Kui Yuan Yuan and Xu Jing, she came from the Shi Sha Hai gym. She has only stated in her local gym for one year and then got selected by the National team. Although her family is in Beijing, she doesn't go home that often.

Yue Yue is closest to Mama. She helped Yue Yue in every way for her gymnastics career. Yue Yue is so tiny. She can't wash big clothes herself. Mama came to the training center once two weeks to help her wash her clothes. Every Sunday morning she goes shopping with Mama, because that is the only time off training and studying. If her mother doesn't go out with her, she dare not go too far away from the training center.

Want to be an international judge

Never think that Yue Yue only knows gymnastics. She is a girl that has dreams and wishes. Whenever she has time, she plays hard.

Yue Yue loves little animals. She raises kitties, doggies, even chicken and ducks. She likes to go fishing with her father. Once she caught a loach and brought it home. But the loach was so huge that it jumped out of the jar and escaped from her.

When she was asked about her future after gymnastics, Yue Yue did not respond like many other young gymnasts who don't know what they want to do. She has clear goals and plans for herself: "My body will only be able to sustain gymnastics until the end of the Olympics. If I could do better, I would only stay until the 9th National Games in 2001, then I will retire."

"Are you going to have a related career?"

"I think I will."

"As a coach?"

"I am so stupid as a gymnast, I won't be a good coach. I want to be an international judge. It needs a lot of computer and technical knowledge, plus good English. So I will study at a university first."

Little kid with big mind

Yue Yue's face and body look like a 12 year old kid. However you should never treat her as a kid. People close to her know that she is a smart and thoughtful girl on the gymnastics team.

I asked her: "Foreign gymnasts are much more expressive than the Chinese gymnasts. Some of them even perform like an actress, but Chinese gymnasts usually only finish their routines. They rarely improvise. It seems like they are not as good in catching the attention from the audience. How do you think of this? Can you perform to the level of those expressive gymnasts?"

"It is true. The reason may be that foreign gymnasts come from local clubs. They practice gymnastics mainly as a personal interest. They may feel more relaxed, and thus more expressive in performance. Chinese gymnasts usually have more pressure, because we usually compete for the country. There are hundreds of millions of people staring at you when you are competing. I will not be able to express like them. We have different situations."

Gymnastic fans may notice that Yue Yue has a habit. Whenever it is her turn to compete, she usually closes her eyes and talks to herself before she starts. "What do you tell yourself?" Yue Yue was a bit shy and she first tried to deny: "No, I don't say anything [when I compete]." But later she told me: "That is to memorize technical tips!"

(end)