He Kexin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids He Kexin
Kexin on August 30, 2008
Personal information
Full name	He Kexin (何可欣)
Country represented	China
Born	(1992-01-01) January 1, 1992 (age 32) (see Age controversy below) Beijing, China
Hometown	Beijing
Height	147 cm (4 ft 10 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior
Years on national team	2007–12 (CHN)
Club	Beijing Gymnastics Team
Head coach(es)	Liu Guicheng, He Hua
Music	Boléro by Maurice Ravel (2010–11)
Retired	2013
Medal record Women's artistic gymnastics Representing  China Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 1 0 World Championships 1 0 2 World Cup Final 1 0 0 Asian Games 2 0 0 National Games 1 0 1 Total 7 1 3 Summer Olympics Gold 2008 Beijing Team Gold 2008 Beijing Uneven Bars Silver 2012 London Uneven Bars World Championships Gold 2009 London Uneven Bars Bronze 2010 Rotterdam Team Bronze 2011 Tokyo Team World Cup Final Gold 2008 Madrid Uneven Bars Asian Games Gold 2010 Guangzhou Team Gold 2010 Guangzhou Uneven Bars National Games Gold 2009 Jinan Uneven Bars Bronze 2009 Jinan Team

He Kexin (born January 1, 1992) is a Chinese former artistic gymnast who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she won gold medals on the uneven bars and as a member of the Chinese team. She was one of only a few gymnasts to score over 17.00 under the 2005–2008 Code of Points, and her 7.7 difficulty score on bars in 2008 was one of the highest in the world.

As with several of her teammates, questions were raised in the international press when earlier reports surfaced indicating she may not have been old enough to compete in the 2008 Olympics; however, an official investigation found in her favor. She continued her success in the post-Beijing Olympics period; she holds the record for the highest obtained difficulty in the entire London period. In the team final at the 2010 World Championships, she scored 16.133 with a 7.4 difficulty, one of the highest scores achieved in women's gymnastics between 2009 and 2012.

Gymnastics career

He Kexin began training at the Shichahai Sports School in Beijing in 1997. She participated in China's National Games in 2006 and Intercity Games in 2007. According to China Daily, Kexin was recruited for the Chinese National Team in 2007, after her uneven bars win at the Intercity Games drew the attention of head coach Huang Yubin.

She made her international debut in 2008, participating in several events on the World Cup circuit. At her first meet, the World Cup in Doha, she scored 16.550 on the uneven bars; at her second, the Cottbus Cup, she scored 16.800. The mark was the highest uneven bars score posted at an international event under the current Code of Points, besting Nastia Liukin's mark of 16.65 at the 2008 Pacific Rim Championships. On May 15, 2008, He participated in the Tianjin World Cup, breaking two world records.

At the 2008 Olympics, He was a member of the gold medal-winning Chinese team. In the uneven bars final, she and Liukin both posted final marks of 16.725, and earned identical A- and B-panel scores of 7.70 and 9.025, respectively. Because He's individual B-panel marks had a lower variance, she won the gold medal as per the Olympic tiebreaker rules of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG).

At the 2009 World Championships in London, she defended her bars title and won a gold medal with a score of 16.000, with a 7.1 D-score.

During the team finals in the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, He contributed the highest score of the night to her team total, 16.133 with 7.4 difficulty, it was the highest difficulty for the entire London Olympic period in all four piece of apparatus and the 16.133 scores on bars was also the highest ever achieved at the same time. But a fall in the event final left her out of the medals. In the qualifications of the 2011 World Championships, she fell and did not make the event final. Although she did not compete in any event in the team final, she remained on the Chinese team, which won the bronze medal.

He was named to the 2012 Olympic team over 2008 teammate Jiang Yuyuan and 2011 World team member Tan Sixin, because her speciality was regarded as a better complement to the fourth team member, Deng Linlin. At the Olympics, she qualified in second place to the uneven bars event final. She finished in second, behind gold medalist Aliya Mustafina of Russia, with a score of 15.933, making her the only Chinese female gymnast to medal in the same event at two consecutive Olympics.

He Kexin (right) with her silver medal from the 2012 Olympic uneven bars final

She is one of only five Chinese female gymnasts to make two Olympic teams, along with Liu Xuan, Kui Yuanyuan, 2008 team captain Cheng Fei, and Deng Linlin.

Competitive history

He Kexin with her gold medal on uneven bars from the 2009 World Championships

Floor Music

• 2008 "Travel to India" (Track14) and "The Awakening" (track 16) from Jackie Chan's Movie "The Myth" soundtrack
• 2010 Aankhein Khuli by Jatin Lalit

See also

In Spanish: He Kexin para niños