Li Ning facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Li Ning 李宁
Li lighting the torch at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Prince of gymnastics
Country represented	China
Born	(1963-03-10) March 10, 1963 (age 61) race Zhuang Liuzhou, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	58 kg (128 lb)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Head coach(es)	Zhang Jian
Retired	1988
Medal record Representing  China Olympic Games Gold 1984 Los Angeles Floor Gold 1984 Los Angeles Pommel Horse Gold 1984 Los Angeles Rings Silver 1984 Los Angeles Team Silver 1984 Los Angeles Vault Bronze 1984 Los Angeles All-Around World Championships Gold 1983 Budapest Team all-around Gold 1985 Montreal Rings Silver 1983 Budapest Vault Silver 1985 Montreal Team all-around Silver 1985 Montreal Pommel horse Silver 1987 Rotterdam Rings Silver 1987 Rotterdam Team all-around Bronze 1981 Moscow Team all-around Bronze 1983 Budapest Rings Bronze 1983 Budapest Floor Bronze 1985 Montreal Floor World Cup Gold 1982 Zagreb All-Around Gold 1982 Zagreb Floor Gold 1982 Zagreb Pommel Horse Gold 1982 Zagreb Rings Gold 1982 Zagreb Vault Gold 1982 Zagreb Horizontal Bar Bronze 1982 Zagreb Parallel Bars Gold 1986 Beijing All-Around Gold 1986 Beijing Floor Exercise Gold 1986 Beijing Pommel Horse Bronze 1986 Beijing Rings

Li Ning (born March 10, 1963 in Liuzhou, Guangxi) is a Chinese retired gymnast, billionaire entrepreneur, and the founder of the eponymous sportswear company Li-Ning. He lives in Hong Kong.

Gymnastics career

Li started training at the age of eight and was selected into the national team in 1980. In 1982, he won six of the seven medals awarded at the Sixth World Cup Gymnastic Competition, earning him the title "Prince of Gymnastics" (simplified Chinese: 体操王子; traditional Chinese: 體操王子).

Li is most famous for winning six medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, which was the first Olympics in which the People's Republic of China participated. He won three gold medals (in floor exercise, pommel horse, and rings), two silver medals, and one bronze medal. Li became the most decorated Chinese athlete at the first Olympics that China participated in after the founding of the People's Republic in October 1949.

Li won 11 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships medals, including gold medals in the rings (1985) and team all-around (1983).

Li took part in his second 1988 Olympics in Seoul despite carrying injuries. It was an end to an illustrious gymnastic career, as he was off-form. He did not win any medals that year.

Post-gymnastics

Li Ning on a 1996 Azerbaijani stamp

Li retired from sporting competition in 1988, and in 1990 he founded Li-Ning Company Limited, which sells footwear and sporting apparel in China. Li remains chairman of the company's board of directors. According to Hurun Report's China Rich List 2014, he has an estimated fortune of RMB 5 billion, making him the 407th wealthiest person in China.

Li was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2000, becoming the first Chinese inductee.

In 2017, a statue was erected in his honor on the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Li Ning ignited the cauldron at the opening ceremony after being hoisted high into the air with cables and miming running around the rim of the stadium.

Personal life

Li is married to Chen Yongyan, a fellow gymnast who won an Olympic bronze in 1984.

See also

In Spanish: Li Ning para niños

• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games