Liang Chow (also known as Qiao Liang; zh , s =

乔 Qiáo () is the 96th most common last name in China. The Qiaos are descendants of the Jī (surname), Ji (姬) family. This name was named after a mountain. According to the legend, the ancient king Yellow Emperor, Huang Di was buried in mountain ...

良 , t = 喬良 , p = Qiáo Liáng ) (born January 1, 1968) is a Chinese-American former

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 ...

. He is the founder, owner, and head coach of Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in

West Des Moines, Iowa West Des Moines is a city in Iowa, United States. Most of the city is in Polk County, Iowa, Polk County, some of it is in Dallas County, Iowa, Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren County, Iowa, Warren and Madison County, Iowa, Madi ...

. He is notable for being the coach of 2008 Olympic balance beam champion

Shawn Johnson Shawn Johnson East (born Shawn Machel Johnson; January 19, 1992) is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympic Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's balance beam, balance be ...

and 2012 Olympic individual all-around champion

Gabby Douglas Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the ...

. He coached senior US gymnasts

Norah Flatley Norah Irene Flatley (born March 10, 2000, in San Diego, California) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2014 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, 2014 Pacific Rim junior balance beam champion. She previously competed for the UCLA Brui ...

and

Rachel Gowey Rachel Kathryn Gowey (born October 3, 1997) is a former American artistic gymnast. She was a U.S. National Team member, from 2014 until her retirement from elite gymnastics in 2016, following her performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Gowey w ...

and junior US gymnast Victoria Nguyen.

Biography

Growing up in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Chow was tapped by a district club at the age of 5 to train in gymnastics. He was on China's national gymnastics team for more than a decade, winning numerous national and international medals. However, he never competed in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

; in 1988 he was too young to make the Chinese team, and before 1992 he suffered a back injury and retired from competition. He moved to the United States in 1991 on the suggestion of his aunt, who was working on her Ph.D. at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. He accepted an English scholarship and a position as an assistant coach for the University of Iowa's men's gymnastics program. Afterwards he accepted a coaching job for the women's program. Following his experience working with female gymnasts, Chow decided to open his own gym to train gymnasts at a younger age, when they would be more flexible and open to learning new skills. He and his wife moved to West Des Moines and opened Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute on August 23, 1998. He expanded his operation to an , two-gym facility by 2003. In June 2008, a

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

destroyed the facilities. Chow was the personal coach of Shawn Johnson since 1998. He began working with

in 2010. He is known for his fatherly affection toward his proteges. He was named the coach of the Chinese women's national gymnastics team in June 2018.

Personal

Chow is married to Liwen Zhuang, a former gymnast on the Chinese national team. They have one child named Kevin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, Liang 1968 births Living people American gymnastics coaches American sportspeople of Chinese descent Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese male artistic gymnasts College men's gymnastics coaches in the United States College women's gymnastics coaches in the United States Sportspeople from West Des Moines, Iowa Gymnasts from Beijing University of Iowa alumni Asian Games medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games 20th-century Chinese sportsmen