Li Xiaoshuang
Born on November 1, 1973, in Xiantao, Hubei Province, Li Xiaoshuang is a former Chinese men’s gymnast, world champion, and Olympic champion. He has been repeatedly named one of China’s “Top Ten Athletes” and “Top Ten Gymnasts.” From 1993 to 1997, he served twice as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Born into an ordinary working-class family in Xiantao, Hubei, Li began training in gymnastics at 6 under coach Ding Xiaopeng. He joined the Hubei Provincial Gymnastic Team in September 1983 under coach Liu Changsheng. Selected for the national team for the first time in 1985, he was later sent back to the provincial team due to injuries. Re-entering the national team in 1988, he was again sent back to the provincial team days later due to physical limitations. He finally re-joined the national team in January 1989. Between 1984 and 1989, he was shuttled between the national and provincial teams three times due to his less-than-exceptional physical attributes. At the 1990 Beijing 11th Asian Games, Li won gold medals in the team and free gymnastics events, marking his breakthrough. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he claimed the gold in the men’s free gymnastics, emerging as a leader of the Chinese men’s gymnastics team. From 1994 to 1995, he was a key member of China’s world championship team and won the individual all-around gold at the 1995 World Championships, becoming the first Chinese gymnast to claim this title. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he defended his individual all-around gold.
Yang Wei
Born on February 8, 1980, in Xiantao, Hubei Province, Yang Wei is a former Chinese gymnast, world champion, and Olympic champion. He is the gold medalist in the men’s all-around at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Yang began training in gymnastics at the age of 5 at the Xiantao Amateur Sports School. He joined the Hubei Provincial Team at 10 and the national team at 16. In 1997, he won the team gold at the 8th National Games of China in Shanghai. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he was a key member of the Chinese men’s gymnastics team that secured their first Olympic team gold. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, a major error on the horizontal bar dropped him to 7th place in the individual all-around. In 2006 and 2007, Yang won consecutive world championships in the individual all-around, becoming the first gymnast since Yugoslavian athlete Petar Šumić (who achieved the feat in 1926) to defend this title. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Yang led the Chinese men’s team to reclaim the team gold in the final after an 8-year gap. On August 14, he won the individual all-around gold with a score of 94.575, marking China’s first Olympic men’s all-around champion in 12 years.
Cheng Fei
Born on May 29, 1988, in Huangshi Port District, Huangshi City, Hubei Province, Cheng Fei is a former member of the Chinese women’s gymnastics team and former captain of the team.
Cheng joined the national gymnastics team in 2001. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she finished 4th in the women’s free gymnastics. In 2005, she won the silver medal in the women’s vault at the East Asian Games and claimed the gold in the same event at the 38th World Gymnastics Championships, where her signature move, the “Cheng Fei Jump,” was officially named by the international gymnastics community. In 2006, she repeated her world championship vault gold and also won the gold in the women’s vault at the 15th Asian Games. In 2007, she secured her third consecutive world championship vault gold, achieving a historic triple crown in the event. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cheng won the team gold in women’s gymnastics, along with bronze medals in the vault, balance beam, and placed 7th in the free gymnastics.
