E-Paper
Li Xiaopeng
The 23-year-old was the top medal winner at the last two world championships and is partly invincible at the parallel bars.
Born: July 1981
Country: China
Weight: 54 kgs
Height: 160cm
Events: Gymnastic
Olympic Records:
2000 Sydney Games: 1st in Parallel Bars, 1st in Teams
Other Records:
1997 World Championship: 1st in Teams
1999 World Championship: 1st in Vaulting Horse, 1st in Teams
2003 Gymnast of the Year award
China's Gymnastic team is gearing up for the Athens under the leadership of Olympic and world champion Li Xiaopeng.
Li is good at the floor exercise and vaulting horse and particularly invincible in the parallel bars. He was a member of the winning Chinese team at both the 1997 and 1999 World Gymnastics Championships. At the World Championships held in Tianjin in 1999, he won a gold medal in the vaulting horse, thereby establishing himself as a gymnast of high standing in the world gymnastics circles.
A product of the famed Hunan Gymnastics School, Li is an innovative gymnast who constantly strives to set new standards in the sport.
The 2003 world gymnast of the Year is targetting success in the parallel bars, the vault and the men's team event. A specialist on the parallel bars, the Olympic champion is expected to showcase a new element during his routine on the apparatus.
Along with the bars, Li has also been unparalleled on the vault in major competition over the past two seasons. The 23-year-old was the top medal winner at the last two world championships and looks like a good bet to continue that trend in Athens.
