Li Xiaopeng (gymnast)

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Medal record
Competitor for China
Men's Gymnastics
Olympic Games
Gold	2000 Sydney	Team competition
Gold	2000 Sydney	Parallel Bars
Bronze	2004 Athens	Parallel Bars
World Championships
Gold	1997 Lausanne	Team competition
Gold	1999 Tianjin	Team competition
Gold	1999 Tianjin	Vault
Gold	2002 Debrecen	Vault
Gold	2002 Debrecen	Parallel Bars
Gold	2003 Anaheim	Team competition
Gold	2003 Anaheim	Vault
Gold	2003 Anaheim	Parallel Bars
Silver	1997 Lausanne	Parallel Bars
Silver	2005 Melbourne	Parallel Bars
Bronze	1997 Lausanne	Floor
World Cup
Gold	1998 Sabae	Parallel Bars
Gold	1998 Sabae	Floor
Gold	2002 Stuttart	Parallel Bars
Gold	2006 Sao Paulo	Parallel Bars
Gold	2008 Cottbus	Parallel Bars
Gold	2008 Tianjin	Parallel Bars

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Li.

Li Xiaopeng (simplified Chinese: 李小鹏; traditional Chinese: 李小鵬; pinyin: Lǐ Xiǎopéng) is a male Chinese gymnast. He was born on July 27, 1981 in Changsha, Hunan.

[edit] Career

Li Xiaopeng began gymnastics training in Changsha Spare-time Sports School in Hunan Province at age 6 and was taken on by the Hunan provincial team at 12. Soon, Li was setting himself apart from his peers with his diligence and skill, receiving several provincial titles. Later, He was selected into the national team at the age of 15.

Li Xiaopeng became China's youngest world (team) gymnastics champion ever when he and other teammates won men's team final in 1997 Lausanne World Championships, and was only 16 years old at the time. Li also received silver in parallel bars, just second to his teammate Zhang Jingjin, and bronze in floor exercise in the same event, from which he established his reputation and presence in world gymnastics.

In 1999 Tianjin World Championships, Li helped China to win men's team champion again and got his first gold in vault. However, his failure in parallel bars still left him and his fans down, which pushed him to train even harder for the coming Sydney Olympics.

In 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Li Xiaopeng and his teammates were outstanding, winning gold in the prestigious men's team event, a first for China's gymnasts. Li Xiaopeng also won an individual gold medal in the parallel bars.

In 2003 Anaheim World Championships, Li Xiaopeng was the only person to win three gold medals in men's team final, vault and parallel bars, thus was voted 2003 World Gymnast of the Year.

However, due to a severe foot injury, Li's performance in 2004 Athens Olympic Games was unsatisfying. China finished 5th in the men's team final and Li only got a bronze in parallel bars after he had been unbeaten since 2000 in major competitions. He was the fourth athlete to compete in the vault event finals, but unfortunately shuffled during the initial sprint and fell on the first jump.

Li Xiaopeng was tortured by a long-time ankle injury and eventually had an operation in 2005. He then did not attend any competitions for a long time. However, he returned successfully in 2006 by winning a gold in parallel bars again in 2006 São Paulo World Cup Series Final. He thus tied with his idol — China's gymnastic legend Li Ning — by winning a record 14 world titles.

In 2008, after suffering through yet another injury, this time in his toe, he came back to compete in the Chinese Nationals and took gold in parallel bars in both World Cup - Cottbus and Tianjin, thus surpassing Li Ning in the number of world titles.

[edit] Trivia

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He is considered as the successor of Li Jia Jun ("the Legion of Li's"), which was consisted of Li Ning, Li Jing, the twins Li Xiaoshuang and Li Dashuang, who all brought glory to China during the past years (and all of them having the family name Li).