Li Li (李莉, born February 26, 1975, in Xingning County,

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

) is an

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. She competed during the early 1990s, and retired in 1994. An Olympian,

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

medallist and national champion, the beam was her best apparatus. Here, she pioneered the exceptionally difficult and innovative 1 turn on back in kip position, to which the skill is named after her. No other gymnast has been able to perform the maneuver with as many spins.

Career

Li made her international debut at the 1990

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, USA, where she wowed the world with her trademark 1 back spin on the beam, as well as a rare German giant into a Tkatchev on the uneven bars. Later the same year, she won one gold (team) and silver (bars) at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

, followed by another silver (beam) at the World Cup (her teammate Yang Bo took the gold). The following year, she competed at the 1991 World Championships in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

where the Chinese team placed fourth. At the 1992 Olympic Games, Li finished 14th in the all-round, and made the bars final where she placed eighth (9.887). Her teammate Lu Li won the gold with a perfect 10.0, one of only two 10s awarded at those games. Again the Chinese women finished fourth in the team competition. Li Li took the early lead in the all-around of the 1993 World Championships in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

after performing on her best event, the beam. She stunned the crowd with a Yurchenko loop followed by the 1 back spin, and scored 9.837, the second highest score awarded on that night (Tatiana Lysenko got a 9.862 on her first vault). Li dropped to ninth place overall in the end after mediocre performance on other apparatus. She was in contention to win the beam gold in the event finals, but after a mistake on her Yang Bo jump, she decided to duplicate the element and as a result went over-time, which cost her two-tenths of a point and dropped her to fourth place (9.600). Without the deduction, she would have taken the silver. Another favorite for the gold,

Shannon Miller Shannon Lee Miller (born March 10, 1977) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was the 1993 and 1994 world all-around champion, the 1992 Summer Olympics all-around silver medallist, the 1996 Olympic balance beam champion, the 1995 Pan ...

, had a disastrous performance, falling from the beam twice and sitting on her dismount (7.850). The gold went to

Lavinia Miloșovici Lavinia Corina Miloșovici (, born 21 October 1976) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast.Jane Perlez (13 July 1995"Romanian Coach Keeps Up the Fight" ''New York Times'' Also known as "Milo" in the gymnastics community, Miloșovici is considere ...

(9.850), who had a simple and plain routine in comparison to Miller's and Li Li's. Li went on to win the beam title in the

1993 East Asian Games The 1st East Asian Games were held in Shanghai, People's Republic of China from 9 to18 May 1993. The main stadium for the inaugural edition of the games was the Hongkou Football Stadium. Shanghai also hosted a number of sports-themed exhibitions ...

and also the 1993 Chinese National Games. She was in the 1994 World Championships in

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but failed to make the beam final, earning a 9.237. She retired from the sport soon after. She is now a women's gymnastics coach at Buckeye Gymnastics in

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin and Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus as well as the home of Otterbein University, the population was 39 ...

Eponymous skills

Li has three eponymous skills listed in the Code of Points.

Competition history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Li Chinese female artistic gymnasts Living people Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics 1975 births Hakka sportspeople Gymnasts from Guangdong People from Xingning Sportspeople from Meizhou Asian Games gold medalists in gymnastics Asian Games silver medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games gymnasts for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Olympic gymnasts for China Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics