Jiang Yuyuan

Jiang Yuyuan (also Yuyan; simplified Chinese: 江钰源; traditional Chinese: 江鈺源; pinyin: Jiāng Yùyuán; born November 1, 1991 in Liuzhou, Guangxi) is a retired Chinese gymnast. She is the 2008 Chinese all-around senior National Champion[1] and a member of the gold medal-winning People's Republic of China team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Jiang was a member of the silver medal-winning Chinese team at the 2007 World Championships, the bronze medal-winning member at the 2010 World Championships and 2011 World Championships, and the all-around gold medalist at the 2007 Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event. In 2010, she replaced Cheng Fei as the captain of the Chinese national team (due to Fei's leg injury). She won a silver medal in the all-around competition at the 2010 World Championships, which is the highest position that a Chinese woman has ever placed in the all-around competition at a world or Olympic championship.

Jiang Yuyuan
Jiang Yuyuan doing floor exercise in Hong Kong
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Yuanyuan
Country represented	People's Republic of China
Born	November 1, 1991 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 2008 Beijing Team World Championships 2007 Stuttgart Team 2010 Rotterdam All-Around 2010 Rotterdam Team 2011 Tokyo Team World Cup Final 2008 Madrid Uneven Bars 2008 Madrid Floor Exercise World Cup 2007 Shanghai Uneven Bars 2007 Shanghai Floor Exercise 2008 Doha Floor Exercise 2008 Ostrava Uneven Bars 2008 Ostrava Floor Exercise 2008 Doha Uneven Bars 2008 Ostrava Balance Beam 2012 Doha Uneven Bars 2007 Shanghai Vault 2012 Doha Floor Exercise Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou Team Summer Universiade 2009 Belgrade Team 2009 Belgrade All-Around 2009 Belgrade Balance Beam 2009 Belgrade Uneven Bars 2009 Belgrade Floor Exercise

Personal life

Jiang Yuyuan is a Hakka born in Liuzhou, Guangxi with ancestry from Yunan, Guangdong.[2] Her father is a taxi driver and her mother is unemployed with no regular income.[3] Jiang's family was under a lot of financial pressure when she was little.[4] Jiang has a keen interest in photography, digital gadgets, cars, fashion and cosmetics. She also likes listening to English songs.[5][6][7] Team members Cheng Fei and Yang Yilin single out Jiang as the most beauty-conscious and trendy member in the national women team. Jiang is responsible for teaching other female members of the national team about make-up technique.[5] Jiang said in one of her interviews that she is sometimes "a little bit of a rebel". Her Headcoach in Chinese national team, Lu Shanzhen, agreed that she would become rebellious occasionally and said that Jiang has the "most character" among the female gymnasts in the national team.[8] Jiang's idol is her fellow gymnast, Cheng Fei.[9]

Jiang and her teammate, Deng Linlin, appeared in the official Olympics documentary 筑梦2008 (Dream Weavers 2008) which followed the gymnasts from 2003 until Jiang's international debut at the 2007 World Championships.[10][11]

Gymnastics career

Li Ning's cousin was Jiang's neighbour when she was little. After noticing that the little Jiang was very energetic for a kid, he suggested to Jiang's parents that they sign her up for gymnastics lessons. Her parents took his suggestion and so Jiang was enrolled in gymnastics classes by the time she was four.[4][12] She was once selected by the Guangxi Provincial Team to participate in a three-month training camp but her parents received a call from the Provincial Team asking them to bring Jiang home less than two months after the training began. Her coach at that time insisted that Jiang had talent and persuaded Jiang's parents to leave Jiang under her care and she would train Jiang personally. But it would be a dead end for a gymnast's career in China if one could not join the Provincial Team, so when opportunity came, Jiang was transferred from Guangxi to join the Zhejiang Provincial Team.[4][9]

Jiang captured glory in the 2002 Provincial Gymnastics Championships for the Zhejiang Provincial Team by winning the all-around competition and, in so doing, caught the attention of the National Team coaches. Soon thereafter, in 2003, she joined the National Training Camp for a stint before it was forced to disband due to the outbreak of the disease, SARS. Jiang joined the National Team 2 in 2004, and was selected from a list of 300 hopefuls of Team 2 to join the National Team 1 in 2006.[13]

She made her senior international debut in 2007 as a member of the Chinese team that won the silver medal in the team competition at the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships. At the same competition, she placed 4th on floor exercise in the individual event finals. In November 2007, she won the all-around at the Good Luck Beijing Olympic Test Event.[14]

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jiang helped the Chinese team to win the team gold medal at the Olympics. Individually, she finished in 6th place in the all-around competition and finished 4th place in the floor exercise event final.[15] Jiang competed at the Olympics with an elbow injury, specifically periosteum inflammation.[16] Her coach disclosed that the injury greatly affected her performance at the Olympics, particularly on vault, where pain prevented her from successfully executing her 2.5-twisting Yurchenko (Amanar), which was crucial for her success in the individual all-around final. As a result of the injury, Chinese coach Lu Shanzhen also decided to pull Jiang from the vault rotation in the team finals, replacing her with Deng Linlin 20 minutes before the competition began.[17]

In 2009, she participated in the 2009 Summer Universiade. She won a team gold medal with her teammates, Cheng Fei, He Ning, Zhou Zhuoru and Liu Nanxi. Individually, she won two gold medals in the all-around competition and on balance beam, a silver on floor exercise and a bronze on uneven bars.

In 2010, Jiang was selected to compete for the team of women representing China at the 2010 World Championships. The team qualified second into the team final, while Jiang herself qualified 4th into the all-around final along with teammate Huang Qiushuang. She also placed 5th on uneven bars, but did not advance into the final due to the 'two per country rule' while her teammates He Kexin and Huang Qiushuang qualified first and second. In the team final, Jiang participated in all four events. Despite falls and mistakes made by Jiang and her teammates, the Chinese women team managed to secure a bronze medal, following Russia and the United States. In the all-around final, Jiang finished 2nd behind Russia's Aliya Mustafina, with a total score of 59.998.[18] Jiang also competed in the Toyota cup winning gold on uneven bars 15.425 and bronze on floor, 14.175 behind Aliya Mustafina and Sui Lu who tied for gold.

On March 24, 2011 Jiang is set to compete in Canada's Wild Rose Cup along with newcomers and juniors Huang Huidan and Shang Chunsong.

She was selected as an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Jiang has served as the captain of the Chinese team since 2010. At the National Training Center, her responsibilities include looking after younger gymnasts at the dormitory.[19]

2008 age controversy

In early 2008, fellow Chinese gymnast Yang Yun, admitted on national television that she was 14 years old when she competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.[20] Consequently, there was frequent speculation that members of the Chinese women's gymnastics team were 14 years of age or under,[21] violating the minimum age requirements of Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), the governing body of the sport, that requires gymnasts to be 16.[22][23]

The New York Times claimed that official media and some official Web sites in China, including that of the State General Administration of Sport, listed Chinese gymnasts' details which indicated that Jiang, He Kexin and Yang Yilin may have been as young as 14.[24] During the Olympics, media focused their attention on Jiang, He, Yang and Deng.[21] In response, Chinese officials claimed the discrepancies for He Kexin were caused by paperwork errors when the gymnast switched teams.[24] Chinese authorities presented passport information to show that they were 16 years old as of 2008.[25][26] Chinese coach Lu Shanzhen explained that Chinese competitors had for years all been small. "It is not just this time. It is a question of race. European and American athletes are all powerful, very robust. But Chinese athletes... are by nature that small."[27] Sportswriter E.M. Swift criticized the IOC for "spend[ing] millions of dollars trying to ferret out drug cheats [while ignoring] allegations of institutionalized cheating" by the Chinese government.[28]

On 22 August 2008 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) instructed the FIG to investigate the allegations that He Kexin was under-age,[29] and were asked to report back to the IOC later that day.[22] The FIG accepted passport ages as valid proof and declared gymnasts eligible.[22] On 23 August, further pressure led the FIG to request additional documentation on five of the six athletes on the Chinese team.[30] IOC president Jacques Rogge said that FIG had demanded "birth certificates and all the documents like family books, entries in schools and things like that." While the FIG investigation was in progress, the IOC indicated reshuffling of the medals was unlikely.[31] Having been satisfied with the proof of age received from the Chinese Gymnastics Association, the FIG ended the investigation on 1 October 2008, concluding that He and her teammates were eligible to compete.[32][33]

Skills

Vault:

• Amanar: 2.5-twisting Yurchenko (A Score: 6.5) (2008)
• DTY: Double-twisting Yurchenko (A Score: 5.8) (2009-2012)

Competitive highlights

Year	Competition Description	Location	Apparatus	Rank-Final	Score-Final	Rank-Qualifying	Score-Qualifying
2012	National Championships	Shanghai	All-around	2	56.100	5	53.250
	World Cup/Series	Doha	Uneven Bars	2	14.875	2	14.900
			Floor Exercise	3	14.000	3	14.050
2011	World Championships	Tokyo	Team	3	172.820	3	230.370
			All-Around			20	55.074
			Uneven Bars			75	12.866
			Balance Beam			9	14.575
			Floor			33	13.633
	World Cup/Series	Ghent	Uneven Bars	2	15.375	3	14.950
			Balance Beam			15	13.125
			Floor Exercise	8	12.050	8	13.300
	National Championships	Kunshan	Team	2	222.000
			All-around	5	54.650	7	55.450
2010	Asian Games	Guangzhou	Team	1	234.150
	World Championships	Rotterdam	Team	3	174.781	2	233.778
			All-around	2	59.998	4	58.099
			Balance Beam			16	14.333
			Uneven Bars			5	15.200
			Floor Exercise			25	13.833
2009	National Games	Jinan	Team	4	164.675	4	217.550
			All-Around	6	56.875
			Uneven Bars	6	14.275
2008	World Cup/Series Final	Madrid	Floor Exercise	2	15.225
			Uneven Bars	2	15.700
	Olympic Games	Beijing	Team	1	188.900	1	248.275
			All-Around	6	60.900	7	60.625
			Floor Exercise	4	15.350	8	15.050
2007	World Championships	Stuttgart	All-Around			147	44.825
			Floor Exercise	4	15.100	8	14.750
			Team	2	183.450	2	241.175
			Uneven Bars			16	15.375
	World Cup/Series	Shanghai	Floor Exercise	1	15.225
			Uneven Bars	1	16.100
			Vault	3	14.412

References

1. Turner, Amanda (2008-05-09). "Yang, Jiang win Chinese titles". International Gymnast. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
2. "奥运冠军江钰源的贺州缘".
3. Olympics Champion Jiang Yuyuan: Mummy, don't go beg for food Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine Yahoo News China, August 14, 2008 "江钰源的父亲江涛是柳州市一名普通的出租车司机，母亲欧凤珍没有固定收入"
4. Jiang Yuyuan The New Olympic Champion's Growing Up Story 第一财经 Wang Wenjue, August 22, 2008, "但经济压力是个不可回避的问题。一家人只有江涛有工作，而他在1996年下岗后，每月只有100多元的工资"
5. Jiang Yuayuan the girl gymnast is a trendy pixy who love reading magazines on electronics xinhuanet.com, August 13, 2008 "有次记者采访程菲和杨伊琳的过程中，曾经问体操队谁最爱美谁最时尚，两小丫异口同声回答“江钰源”, "江钰源还承担教队友化妆的任务"
6. Little Jiang Yuayuan Target to win in 2008. Love photography and Cars 2008.qq.com, December 12, 2007 "她最喜欢摄影和汽车","我没有最喜欢听谁的歌，比较喜欢听英文歌"
7. Star of Gymnastic Hope, Jiang Yuayuan likes magazines on digital gadgets China News Agency, August 22, 2008
8. Lu Shanzen: Cheng Fei too obedient. Jiang Yuyuan has character Sohu Sports, September 13, 2008 "之前，江钰源在接受记者采访的时候，说自己偶尔会有点“叛逆”。陆善真听了，点点头：“没错，她偶尔就是这样，在队里，她算是比较有个性的。" "而江钰源也曾一度想过放弃，有次打电话给欧凤珍，一边哭着一边说不想练了。当时欧凤珍没有一味劝慰江钰源，而是反其道而行之，“那好吧，你妈妈没有工作，你不练的话，回来跟妈妈出去讨饭吧”。欧凤珍的这段话让记者忍俊不禁，而这句玩笑话让不到10岁的江钰源信以为真了，小钰源马上害怕了，“妈妈你不会去要饭的，我一定会好好练，你别去要饭啊，那样好没面子的。”"
9. Getting close to Jiang Yuyuan: The only idol is Cheng Fei. Female all-around gold is target Archived 2008-10-08 at the Wayback Machine sports.dbw.cn,July 到 2008
10. "Dream Weaver". CriEnglish.com. July 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
11. 奥运准官方电影《筑梦2008》：洩露官方机密？ Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine sina.com July 6, 2008
12. Little gymnast Jiang Yuyuan started gymnastics because Li Ning was her neighbour Archived 2008-10-07 at the Wayback Machine CCTV.com, August 15, 2008 "李宁的表哥和江家是邻居，因为看小钰源每天上上下下十分好动，就建议江涛送女儿去练体操。"
13. Jiang Yuyuan have been away from hometown. All-around title is the new target 2008.sohu.com, August 13, 2008 "2003年，江钰源首次进入国家集训队，但是因为当年非典盛行，最后集训被迫解散。2004年，她进入国家二队；2006年，她又在300多人的国家二队大名单中脱颖而出，进入国家一队。"
14. "Jiang, Chinese Men Win Olympic Test Event". International Gymnast. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
15. "Floor event final scores". NBC Olympics. 2008-08-17. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
16. 王玲 (2008-08-16). "Coach explains reason of Jiang Yuyuan's defeat: Elbow injury, it is fatal". Nanguo Daily. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
17. "Gymnast replaced 20 minutes before final, Scene behind team women's gold". Liberation Daily. 2008-08-14. Retrieved 2008-09-09. "比賽開始前20分鐘，體操隊在訓練房最後一次賽前訓練，當時他覺得江鈺源狀態不是很好。“源源的手肘有些傷，最近狀態不是很好，所以臨時決定用穩定替換難度。”陸善真娓娓道來，“鄧琳琳屬於穩定型選手，關鍵時刻，一個穩定的發揮可以更好地鼓舞士氣。"
18. Women's All-around Results (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-23, retrieved 2010-10-23
19. "Profile of Jiang Yuyuan". NBC Olympics. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
20. "Issues raised about Chinese athletes' ages" Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2008. Yang subsequently stated that she had misspoken.
21. Macur, Juliet (10 August 2008). "Teeny-Tiny Matter of Age for China's Gymnasts". New York Times. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
22. Macur, Juliet (22 August 2008). "I.O.C. Asks for Inquiry of Chinese Gymnasts". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
23. Longman, Jeré; Macur, Juliet (27 July 2008). "Records say Chinese gymnasts may be underage". New York Times. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
24. Macur, Juliet (24 August 2008). "China Cites Paperwork Error in Age of Gymnast". New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
25. Ann Killion (13 August 2008). "Chinese gymnasts too young to know any better?". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
26. "Most Memorable Moments of the 2008 Beijing Olympics". AsianWeek. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
27. "IOC: No proof China cheated in gymnastics". NBC News. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
28. E. M. Swift (20 August 2008). "The IOC's handling of the underage gymnast controversy is a shame". Sports Illustrated.
29. Hutcheon, Stephen (22 August 2008). "IOC calls for investigation into gymnast's age". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
30. "Artistic : Age of gymnasts". International Gymnastics Federation official announcement. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
31. "Rogge says gymnasts' paperwork appears to support China claims". ESPN. Associated Press. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
32. "Officials say Chinese Olympic gymnasts not underage". International Herald Tribune. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
33. Macur, Juliet (1 October 2008). "Ruling Backs Chinese Gymnasts". New York Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 1 October 2008.

External links

• Jiang Yuyuan at the International Gymnastics Federation