Liu Xuan (gymnast)

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Liu Xuan
Country represented China
Born (1979-08-12) August 12, 1979 (age 44)
Changsha, Hunan, China
Spouse
Wang Tao
​
(m. 2013)​
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team1994–2000 (CHN)
Eponymous skills"Liu Xuan" (uneven bars)
Retired2000
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Balance Beam
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney All-Around
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1995 Sabae Team
Bronze medal – third place 1996 San Juan Balance Beam
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Lausanne Team
World Cup Final
Gold medal – first place 1998 Sabae Balance Beam
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Sabae Uneven Bars
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Hiroshima Team
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bangkok Team
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bangkok All-Around
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bangkok Balance Beam
Silver medal – second place 1994 Hiroshima Uneven bars
National Games
Gold medal – first place 1997 Shanghai Team
Gold medal – first place 1997 Shanghai Balance Beam
In this Chinese name, the family name is Liu.

Liu Xuan (simplified Chinese: 刘璇; traditional Chinese: 劉璇; pinyin: Liú Xuán; born August 12, 1979) is a former Chinese artistic gymnast. She competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games and won two Olympic medals, including gold on the balance beam in 2000. She was born in Changsha, Hunan.

Gymnastics career[edit]

Liu was coached by Guo Xinming and Zhang Zhen. She took up gymnastics with encouragement from her mother, who had to stop training when her gym closed during the Cultural Revolution. In fact, Liu's decision to continue training for another four years after a disappointing performance at the 1996 Olympics (where she failed to make the beam final because of a fall in the team competition) was partly to realize her mother's unfulfilled dream.[citation needed]

In 2000, Liu became China's first Olympic champion on balance beam, as well as its first all-around medalist in women's gymnastics. She also led the Chinese team to a third-place finish, but in 2010, their bronze medal was stripped by the International Olympic Committee and awarded to the United States instead after one of the Chinese team members, Dong Fangxiao, was found to have been underage during the competition.[1][2] In March 2012, the bronze medal Liu and her teammates won at the 1999 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was forfeited to Ukraine for the same reason.[3]

Eponymous skill[edit]

Liu was the first female gymnast to perform a one-arm giant swing on the uneven bars; she also performed this skill into a Geinger release move. The skill is named after her in the Code of Points, but because it was considered too risky for women, it was given a low difficulty rating to discourage gymnasts from attempting it.[citation needed] As a result, Liu stopped performing it after the 1996 Olympics.

Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a]
Uneven bars Liu Giant circle backward to handstand on one arm B

[4]

  1. ^ Valid for the 2022-2024 Code of Points

Post-gymnastics career[edit]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Liu served as the on-site gymnastics reporter for Hong Kong broadcaster TVB.

In July 2009, she became a contracted actress for TVB.[5]

Personal life[edit]

Liu married her boyfriend, musician Wang Tao, in Happy Valley, Hong Kong in December 2013.[6] The couple have two children.

Results[edit]

Eponymous skills[edit]

Apparatus Code Name Description Difficulty
Uneven bars 3.201 Liu Xuan Giant circle backward to handstand on one arm[8] B

Discography[edit]

Year Album title
2008 Sweet on the Heart (甜上心頭)
2009 Ready...Go! (出發)
2011 Return Sight (回見)
18 February 2011 Beautiful Faces

Filmography[edit]

Films[edit]

Year Title Role Co-stars
2002 Far From Home Xi Mei Xu Jinglei, Daniel Chan, Cui Lin
2010 East Wind Rain
2012 On My Way
2014 I Am a Wolf

TV series[edit]

Year Title Network Role Notes
2002 My Father and I Mainland Gao Wenjun
2003 Ultimate Target Mainland Liu Jingyi
2004 Phantom Lover Mainland Tian Fei
2011 Grace Under Fire TVB Mok Kwai-lan Nominated — TVB Anniversary Award for My Favourite Female Character (Top 15)
2012 Strangers 6
2018 Legend of Fuyao Mainland Fei Yan (非烟)

TV shows[edit]

Year Title Network Role
2005 Light Blue, Dark Blue Mainland Guest
2006 Wulin Dahui Mainland Guest
2007 Mingsheng Dazhen Mainland Guest
2010 Go! EXPO TVB Co-host; 10 episodes

References[edit]

  1. ^ Macur, Juliet (2010-04-28). "China Loses Women's Team Gymnastics Medal at 2000 Games". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  2. ^ "China's gymnasts ordered to return Sydney Olympic bronze". The Guardian. 2010-04-29. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  3. ^ Turner, Amanda. "China Hands Bronze from 1999 Worlds to Ukraine". International Gymnast Magazine Online. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  4. ^ "2022-2024 Code of Points Women's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). International Gymnastics Federation. p. 83, 207. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  5. ^ Cheung, Kin (2011-05-09). "Olympic gold medalist switches to show business". USAToday.com. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  6. ^ "Gymnast Liu Xuan holds wedding banquet in HK". www.szdaily.com. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  7. ^ "China stripped of 2000 Olympic bronze - CNN.com". CNN.
  8. ^ FIG Code of Points 2009-2012, page 73.

External links[edit]

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