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 33) (see Age controversy below) Beijing, China
Height	147 cm (4 ft 10 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
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 gymnast. She competed in the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2012. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she won two gold medals. One was for her amazing performance on the uneven bars. The other was with the Chinese team.

He Kexin was one of the few gymnasts to score over 17.00 points under the old scoring system. Her routines on the uneven bars were very difficult. In 2008, her difficulty score of 7.7 was one of the highest in the world.

There were some questions about her age for the 2008 Olympics. However, an official investigation found that she was old enough to compete. She continued to be very successful after the Beijing Olympics. She even holds the record for the highest difficulty score in women's gymnastics between 2009 and 2012.

Gymnastics Journey

He Kexin started training in gymnastics in 1997. She went to the Shichahai Sports School in Beijing. She competed in China's National Games in 2006. In 2007, she also participated in the Intercity Games.

Joining the National Team

According to China Daily, He Kexin joined the Chinese National Team in 2007. This happened after she won the uneven bars event at the Intercity Games. Her win caught the eye of the head coach, Huang Yubin.

International Debut

He Kexin made her first international appearance in 2008. She competed in several World Cup events. At her first competition in Doha, she scored 16.550 on the uneven bars. At her second event in Cottbus, she scored 16.800. This was the highest uneven bars score at an international event at that time. It was even higher than Nastia Liukin's score from 2008. On May 15, 2008, He Kexin competed in the Tianjin World Cup. There, she set two new world records.

Olympic Success in 2008

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, He Kexin was part of the Chinese team that won a gold medal. In the uneven bars final, she and Nastia Liukin both scored 16.725 points. They even had the same scores from the judges for difficulty and execution.

Because of a special tie-breaker rule, He Kexin won the gold medal. This rule looks at how close the individual judges' scores were.

World Championships Victories

At the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in London, He Kexin won another gold medal. She defended her uneven bars title with a score of 16.000. Her routine had a difficulty score of 7.1.

In the team finals at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she had the highest score for her team. She scored 16.133 with a difficulty of 7.4. This was the highest difficulty score for any event during that Olympic period. However, she fell in the individual uneven bars final and did not win a medal.

At the 2011 World Championships, she fell during qualifications. This meant she did not make it to the event final. Even though she didn't compete in the team final, the Chinese team still won a bronze medal.

London 2012 Olympics

He Kexin was chosen for the 2012 Olympic team. Her special skills on the uneven bars were a great addition to the team. At the London Olympics, she qualified second for the uneven bars final.

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

She won a silver medal, finishing second behind Aliya Mustafina from Russia. Her score was 15.933. This made her the only Chinese female gymnast to win a medal in the same event at two Olympics in a row.

He Kexin is one of only five Chinese female gymnasts to compete in two Olympic Games. The others are Liu Xuan, Kui Yuanyuan, Cheng Fei, and Deng Linlin.

Competitive Results

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

Floor Music

• 2008: "Travel to India" (Track 14) 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