Jiang Yuyuan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jiang Yuyuan
Jiang Yuyuan doing floor exercise in Hong Kong
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Yuanyuan
Country represented	People's Republic of China
Born	(1991-11-01) November 1, 1991 (age 33) Liuzhou, Guangxi
Height	148 cm (4 ft 10 in)
Weight	32 kg (71 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior
Years on national team	2006–13 (CHN)
Club	National team
Head coach(es)	Xiong Jingbin
Assistant coach(es)	Zhang Xia
Music	"Lift Your Veil"
Retired	October 2013
Medal record Representing  China Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Team World Championships Silver 2007 Stuttgart Team Silver 2010 Rotterdam All-Around Bronze 2010 Rotterdam Team Bronze 2011 Tokyo Team World Cup Final Silver 2008 Madrid Uneven Bars Silver 2008 Madrid Floor Exercise World Cup Gold 2007 Shanghai Uneven Bars Gold 2007 Shanghai Floor Exercise Gold 2008 Doha Floor Exercise Gold 2008 Ostrava Uneven Bars Gold 2008 Ostrava Floor Exercise Silver 2008 Doha Uneven Bars Silver 2008 Ostrava Balance Beam Silver 2012 Doha Uneven Bars Bronze 2007 Shanghai Vault Bronze 2012 Doha Floor Exercise Asian Games Gold 2010 Guangzhou Team Summer Universiade Gold 2009 Belgrade Team Gold 2009 Belgrade All-Around Gold 2009 Belgrade Balance Beam Silver 2009 Belgrade Uneven Bars Silver 2009 Belgrade Floor Exercise

Jiang Yuyuan (born November 1, 1991) is a retired Chinese gymnast. She was a very successful athlete who won many medals for her country. In 2008, she became the Chinese all-around senior National Champion. She was also a key member of the team that won the gold medal for the People's Republic of China at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Jiang also earned silver medals with the Chinese team at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She won bronze medals at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In 2010, she became the captain of the Chinese national team. She achieved the highest position ever for a Chinese woman in the all-around competition at a World or Olympic championship, winning a silver medal in 2010.

About Jiang Yuyuan

Jiang Yuyuan was born in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China. Her family faced some financial challenges when she was young. Her father worked as a taxi driver, and her mother did not have a regular job.

Jiang has many interests outside of gymnastics. She loves photography, digital gadgets, cars, fashion, and cosmetics. She also enjoys listening to English songs. Her teammates, Cheng Fei and Yang Yilin, have said that Jiang is the most stylish and beauty-conscious person on the national women's team. She even taught other gymnasts about make-up techniques!

Jiang once described herself as "a little bit of a rebel." Her coach, Lu Shanzhen, agreed that she could be rebellious sometimes. He also said that Jiang had the "most character" among the female gymnasts on the national team. Jiang looks up to her fellow gymnast, Cheng Fei, as her idol.

Jiang and her teammate, Deng Linlin, were featured in an official Olympics documentary called Dream Weavers 2008. This film followed their journey from 2003 up to Jiang's first international competition in 2007.

Jiang's Gymnastics Journey

Jiang Yuyuan started gymnastics at a very young age. Her neighbor, who was a cousin of famous gymnast Li Ning, noticed how energetic Jiang was. He suggested to her parents that they enroll her in gymnastics lessons. So, by the time she was four, Jiang was already taking classes.

She was once invited to a training camp with the Guangxi Provincial Team. However, she was asked to go home early. Her coach believed in her talent and convinced Jiang's parents to let her continue training with her. In China, joining a Provincial Team is very important for a gymnast's career. So, Jiang later moved from Guangxi to join the Zhejiang Provincial Team.

In 2002, Jiang won the all-around competition at the Provincial Gymnastics Championships for the Zhejiang team. This caught the attention of the National Team coaches. In 2003, she joined the National Training Camp. After a short break due to the SARS outbreak, she joined National Team 2 in 2004. By 2006, she was chosen from 300 hopefuls to join National Team 1.

Senior International Debut

Jiang made her first big international appearance in 2007. She was part of the Chinese team that won a silver medal at the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships. In the individual events, she placed 4th in the floor exercise. Later that year, in November 2007, she won the all-around title at the Good Luck Beijing Olympic Test Event.

Beijing Olympics Success

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Jiang helped the Chinese team win the gold medal! This was a huge achievement for her and her country. In the individual all-around competition, she finished in 6th place. She also placed 4th in the floor exercise final.

Jiang competed at the Olympics even though she had an elbow injury. Her coach said this injury affected her performance, especially on the vault. Because of the pain, she couldn't perform her difficult 2.5-twisting Yurchenko vault. This skill was very important for her chances in the individual all-around final. Due to the injury, her coach decided to replace her with Deng Linlin for the vault in the team finals, just 20 minutes before the competition started.

After the Olympics

In 2009, Jiang competed in the 2009 Summer Universiade. She won a team gold medal with her teammates. Individually, she earned two more gold medals: one in the all-around competition and another on the balance beam. She also won a silver medal on floor exercise and a bronze on uneven bars.

In 2010, Jiang was chosen to represent China at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The team qualified second for the team final. Jiang herself qualified 4th for the all-around final. She also placed 5th on uneven bars, but couldn't compete in the final because only two gymnasts from each country are allowed.

In the team final, Jiang competed on all four events. Even with some falls and mistakes from the team, the Chinese women won a bronze medal. In the all-around final, Jiang finished in 2nd place, earning a silver medal. This was a historic achievement for a Chinese female gymnast. She also won a gold medal on uneven bars and a bronze on floor at the Toyota Cup.

Jiang was an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She served as the captain of the Chinese team from 2010. As captain, she helped look after the younger gymnasts at the training center.

Gymnastics Skills

Jiang Yuyuan was known for her powerful skills. Here are some of her main vaults:

• Amanar: This is a very difficult vault where a gymnast does a Yurchenko with 2.5 twists. She performed this in 2008.
• DTY: This stands for Double-twisting Yurchenko, which is a Yurchenko with two twists. She used this vault from 2009 to 2012.

Images for kids

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  Jiang Yuyuan doing floor exercise in Hong Kong

See also

In Spanish: Jiang Yuyuan para niños