Yao Jinnan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yao Jinnan
Full name	Yao Jinnan
Country represented	China
Born	(1995-02-08) February 8, 1995 (age 30) Fuzhou, Fujian, China
Height	145 cm (4 ft 9 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior
Years on national team	2011–16 (CHN)
Head coach(es)	王群策 (Wang Qunce)、徐惊雷 (Xu Jinglei)
Music	2010-2011 - West Side Story 2012-2013 - A for Angel 2014 Chinese Nationals - Sphynx 2014 Worlds - The Question of U by Prince
Medal record Representing  China World Championships Gold 2014 Nanning Uneven Bars Silver 2011 Tokyo Balance Beam Silver 2014 Nanning Team Bronze 2011 Tokyo Team Bronze 2011 Tokyo All-Around Asian Games Gold 2014 Incheon Team Gold 2014 Incheon All-Around Gold 2014 Incheon Uneven Bars Gold 2014 Incheon Floor Exercise
Awards	Longines Prize for Elegance

Yao Jinnan (born February 8, 1995) is a former gymnast from China. She was part of the Chinese team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Yao is famous for winning the world championship on the uneven bars in 2014. She also won a bronze medal in the all-around competition and a silver medal on the balance beam at the 2011 World Championships.

Yao is one of the few gymnasts, all from China, who have successfully performed a difficult move called the "Mo salto" on the uneven bars.

Yao Jinnan's Gymnastics Journey

Starting Strong in 2011

Yao Jinnan began her international gymnastics career at a World Cup event in Cottbus, Germany. She quickly showed her talent by winning gold medals on the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. She then won another gold on floor and a bronze on bars at the Doha World Cup.

At the 2011 Chinese National Championships, Yao earned silver medals in the all-around and on uneven bars. She also took home a bronze medal on floor exercise. Later, at the Japan Cup, she won a bronze medal in the all-around. Her team, which included Yang Yilin, Sui Lu, and Huang Qiushuang, won the gold medal.

Yao was chosen to be part of the Chinese team for the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She did very well in the first round, qualifying for the all-around, beam, and floor finals. In the team final, her strong performances helped China win the bronze medal. In the all-around competition, she finished third, earning a bronze medal. She was behind Jordyn Wieber from the United States and Viktoria Komova from Russia. If she hadn't fallen on the beam, she might have become China's first world all-around champion.

In the balance beam final, she won the silver medal, just behind her teammate Sui Lu. She placed fourth in the floor final, very close to winning a bronze medal.

The 2012 Olympic Year

In January 2012, Yao competed at the Olympic Test Event in London. She competed on uneven bars and balance beam, finishing third and fifth, respectively. Even with some mistakes in the bars final, she still won the bronze medal. In the balance beam final, she fell and finished in sixth place.

At the Zibo World Cup in May 2012, Yao won gold medals on both uneven bars and balance beam. Her teammate Huang Qiushuang won silver in both events. Yao was supposed to compete at the Chinese National Championships later that month, but she had to stop because of a knee injury during practice. Despite this, she was still chosen for the Chinese women's gymnastics team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Her teammates were Huang, Sui, Deng Linlin, and He Kexin.

Olympic Games Performance

Yao had a thigh injury during the Olympics, so she wasn't at her best. However, she still competed on all four events in the qualifying round. She had falls on three events: beam, floor, and vault. But on uneven bars, she scored very high and qualified in fourth place for the event final. She finished 22nd overall but could not compete in the all-around final. This was due to a rule that only two gymnasts from each country can compete in the final.

In the team final, Yao scored well on bars and vault. China finished fourth, not able to win the gold medal like they did at the 2008 Olympics. In the uneven bars final, Yao performed a nearly perfect routine. She finished in fourth place, very close to winning a bronze medal.

Achievements in 2013

In September, Yao competed at the Chinese National Games. She tied for the gold medal in the all-around competition with Shang Chunsong. She was then chosen to compete at the 2013 World Championships with Shang, Zeng Siqi, and Huang Huidan.

At the World Championships, Yao qualified for the all-around and uneven bars finals. In the all-around, she performed the Mo salto on bars. This difficult move had not been seen in a World or Olympic competition by a woman since 1996. With this routine, she earned the highest uneven bars score of the day. However, she later fell on the beam and finished fifth. In the uneven bars final, she tried the Mo salto again but fell and did not win a medal.

Success in 2014

In May, Yao successfully defended her all-around title at the Chinese National Championships. She also won a gold medal on the uneven bars.

Later that year, she competed at the Asian Games in Incheon. She won gold medals with her team, in the all-around, and on both floor exercise and uneven bars. She was then selected for the 2014 World Championships in Nanning. There, she won a team silver medal with Huang, Shang, Tan Jiaxin, Bai Yawen, and Chen Siyi. Individually, she finished fifth in the all-around. She won her first gold medal at a World Championships in the uneven bars final, scoring 15.633. She also finished eighth in the balance beam finals. Yao was given the Longines Prize for Elegance, which included a trophy, a Longines watch, and US$5,000.

Injury and Retirement

In January 2015, it was announced that Yao would take a year off from gymnastics. She needed surgery for a shoulder injury and traveled to the United States for the operation.

Yao competed in the Chinese Nationals in May 2016. However, her shoulder injury prevented her from winning any medals. Because of this, she was not chosen for the Olympic team for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Yao later retired from artistic gymnastics due to her ongoing shoulder injury.

Personal Life

Yao Jinnan has a twin sister. Her sister also started gymnastics training with her but did not continue to the elite level.

See also

In Spanish: Yao Jinnan para niños