Meet China's New Stars (Part 1)

Remember we told you that China would be adding new members to its national teams after Chinese New Year? Well, more news on the recent recruits is steadily trickling in, and our China correspondent JW is right on top of it. Here's Part 1 of her in-depth look at the new girls, some of whom look set to become genuine stars. Enjoy it, all you China fans!

A Brief Introduction to China's New Generation (Part I)

Earlier this week, fifty-seven young gymnasts from all over China reported to the National Training Center in Beijing to begin their quest for world and Olympic gold. Thirty-six of the newcomers are MAG prospects, eighteen of whom will begin training toward the London 2012 Olympics, and eighteen of whom have been selected with an eye to the 2016 Olympics. Nothing like long-term planning!

The other twenty-one athletes are WAG hopefuls for the 2012 Olympics. As we understand it, fifteen of the girls are newcomers to the national team, chosen from the sixty or so youngsters who participated in a December 2008 selection camp. The remaining five seem to be returning members -- juniors who originally joined the National Team in 2006-07, returned to their provincial teams in the summer of 2008, and have now been invited back to Beijing.


Tan Sixin (photo: Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

A complete roster has not been released yet, but recent Chinese news items confirm that the following six girls are among the lucky twenty-one: Tan Sixin and Zhang Yujiao (Shanghai); Chen Shihua (Guangdong); Zeng Siqi (Hunan); and Huang Ying and Zhang Qing (Hubei). Today’s post will introduce the first four girls. Later this week, we’ll profile the two youngsters from Hubei.

Tan Sixin and Zhang Yujiao are already quite well-known to fans around the world. Following an impressive international debut at last month’s Australian Youth Olympic Festival, Tan Sixin needs little introduction. We just hope that her new coaches can improve the technique on her balance beam dismount and help her develop more confidence everywhere. The willowy Zhang Yujiao is an elegant gymnast with considerable potential on bars, beam, and floor. She lacks power, but her artistry is a welcome addition to any competition. Here, we’ve provided three of her routines from the 2008 Massilia Cup:

Zhang Yujiao UB: Her swing is a bit slow, and she misses a LB-HB transition, but oh, the toepoint! The lines!

Zhang Yujiao BB: She’s no Tan Sixin, but it’s still a pretty routine.

Zhang Yujiao FX: The tumbling is less than spectacular, but the choreography and expression are divine. Would that more gymnasts demonstrated such clear evidence of ballet training!


Zhang Yujiao (photo: Stefan Wurzer/Gymnasticsunited)

The following news clip from CCTV5 shows Zhang and Tan moving into the dormitory at the National Training Center. Zhang appears at 0:13 with a large package of toilet paper in tow. (For those of you who haven’t lived in China: Communal living facilities aren’t always equipped with toilet paper. Evidently, Zhang Yujiao didn’t want to take any chances!) Tan appears briefly here and then again at 0:25, when she gets a hand from Olympic champion He Kexin...

Video: Zhang Yujiao and Tan Sixin move into the National Training Center

A related Sina article appears here.

Tan Sixin said, “Although He Kexin jie jie (big sister) is an Olympic champion, she doesn’t put on any airs! She just helped me make my bed!”

Asked about her new teammates, He Kexin said that the infusion of fresh talent would promote a more competitive environment at the training center. “The newcomers have good conditions for development. We [veterans] have already reached a certain level, and it’s difficult for us to make further progress. They have more room for improvement.”


Chen Shihua, wearing both blue and pink eyeshadow (photo: Loo Winnie)

Guangdong’s Chen Shihua is one of the fifteen girls selected at the December training camp. She won her age group at the 2007 Guangdong Junior Championships, but was unable to defend her title in 2008 when a foot injury limited her to UB. She recovered in time for the December selection camp, where she impressed the coaching staff enough to earn an invitation to join the National Team. According to this Sina article, Chen is a strong all-arounder who excels on the uneven bars. Interestingly, she began her career as a rhythmic gymnast but switched to artistic gymnastics four years ago. Chen is one of at least three or four Guangdong gymnasts joining the National Team this week. (Another one is likely to be AYOF competitor Wu Liufang -- we can’t imagine that the national team staff would bypass her considerable talents.)


Major cuteness alert: He Kexin and Zeng Siqi (photo courtesy of Ling Jie's blog)

Zeng Siqi, a protégée of 1999 World BB champion Ling Jie (who’s been coaching the Hunan junior team for several years now), is another of the fifteen from the December camp. Based on this article, it seems that she has also been assigned to the Liu Guicheng/He Hua coaching group. After yesterday’s training session, Zeng Siqi shyly told reporters, “So many of the ‘elder brothers and sisters’ [older athletes] that I respect are here [at the National Training Center]. I certainly won’t let Coach Ling lose face.”

At least one other Hunan gymnast joined (or rejoined) the National Team this week, and we’re willing to bet that it’s AYOF all-around champion Cui Jie.

To be continued...

More Chinese News: Pang Panpan, Yang Yilin, Deng Linlin

Here’s another long overdue update from China...

The Chinese New Year has come and gone, and China’s gymnasts have thrown themselves into preparations for the 2009 competition season. Both the MAG and WAG teams are currently in the midst of winter training, an intensive period devoted to learning new skills, polishing old ones, and making any necessary adjustments for the new Code of Points. Everyone’s top priority this year is undoubtedly the 2009 National Games, to be held in Jinan, Shandong Province, in September (exact dates TBA). The gymnastics portion of this quadrennial multi-sport event is being held a month earlier than other events to avoid scheduling conflicts with the 2009 World Championships in London. A qualifying meet for the National Games will be held in Jinan from May 9-18. (Separate team/AA/EF and individual national championships will also be held this year, dates and locations TBA.)

Pang Panpan
Conspicuously absent from this year’s winter training is perennial fan favorite Pang Panpan, a key member of China’s historic 2006 World Championships team. Reports from China (among other reports, this Sina story) indicate that Pang has returned to the Hebei provincial team, where she is expected to continue preparing for the National Games. The reasons for her dismissal remain somewhat murky; official explanations suggested that she “needs to lose weight,” but since Pang has always been one of the slimmest members of the Chinese team, this rationale seems fishy at best. We think it has more to do with the chronic ankle problems that have hindered her career since late 2006. Whatever the case, we wish Pang Panpan all the best in her future endeavors, gymnastic or otherwise.


Pang Panpan, slender as a willow (photo: Xinhua)

Yang Yilin
We also have a small update on Yang Yilin, whose condition has been the subject of much speculation since she withdrew from the World Cup Final in December. Fans of the Olympic AA bronze medalist will be relieved to learn that, according to Sohu, she has resumed light training after undergoing treatment for what appears to have been a herniated disc in the lumbar spine. If she makes a full recovery, Yang will certainly be a force to be reckoned with at both the National Games and Worlds later this year.


Photographic evidence that Yang Yilin is alive and kicking: Yang and Li Shanshan at a celebration for Guangdong Olympians last month (photo: Nanfang Daily)

Deng Linlin
Also easing off the injured list is Olympian Deng Linlin, who underwent knee surgery in November. According to Ifeng, Deng told Chinese reporters last week that the knee is now pain-free and she’s training hard in the hope of achieving a “major breakthrough” on vault and balance beam, her two strongest events. She also voiced her intention to continue through the 2012 Olympics.

Despite rumors on several message boards, it does not appear that Deng Linlin will compete at the American Cup on February 21. Her name has not been mentioned in any official announcements from either USAG or the Chinese Gymnastics Association.


Deng Linlin in Beijing (photo: Sina)

Chinese News... and Some AYOF Videos You May Have Missed

We have a lot of Chinese news to catch up on, and we expect to have enough time over the next few weeks to post most of it. But before we dig into the older stuff we somehow didn't get around to posting before, here's some recent news...

Chen Yibing and He Wenna dating?
Lately the Chinese gymnastics headlines have been dominated by Olympic still rings champion Chen Yibing's presumed relationship with Olympic trampolining champion He Wenna. Chen and He have been spotted and photographed together on several occasions, having dinner, doing some window-shopping, attending a concert, and generally looking quite close (watch this video for images of them together), leading some to believe there is more between them than mere friendship. According to Sina, Chen Yibing is quite upset about the constant speculation about him and He, saying that people should focus on his sporting achievements rather than his private life. A few days ago the ring specialist told the Chinese press: "It is said on the Internet that we are in love, which I will neither confirm nor deny. We are friends, so it's normal that we should share a meal every now and then. I've haven't done anything to feel guilty about. I don't want to give an explanation, nor should I have to. I don't want to pay any attention to this sort of thing." For her part, He Wenna is supposedly laughing the whole thing off, saying she finds the hullabaloo about her supposed relationship with Chen Yibing "pretty ridiculous." We'll keep an eye on the situation...


Chen Yibing and He Wenna: an item?
(Photos: Matt Dunham/AP Photo (left) and Reuters (right))

Jiang Yuyuan wants to receive more applause...
In women's team news, Jiang Yuyuan was reportedly very surprised to hear that her province, Zhejiang, had nominated her for the provincial Athlete of the Year Award despite her failure to medal in the Olympic all-around competition. It seems Jiang is determined to do better in 2009. According to Sina, her goal for 2009 is "to show myself and receive more applause." We don't know about you, but we like the sound of that!


Jiang Yuyuan, keen to "show herself" in 2009 (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Finally, some more videos from the Australian Youth Olympic Festival...
We never got to finish our AYOF coverage last month, partly because of other demands on our time, and partly because we were waiting for those who attended and filmed the competition to upload their videos of the final day of competition. Well, by now all the women's finalists' routines and a few men's routines have been uploaded, and just in case you hadn't discovered them for yourselves, we thought we'd link to some more videos of the young Chinese stars who wowed the crowd in Sydney.

This is Wu Liufang's winning routine in the balance beam final (score: 15.600). As far as we're concerned, Wu needs to learn to work a bit faster, but the style and skills are all very much there. We can't get over how gorgeous Wu's Yang Bo jump is. She is quite promising on bars and floor as well, although she will need significant upgrades on both events to become a serious contender for medals.


New Chinese star Tan Sixin at the AYOF (photo: Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Secondly, this is the reason why our new favorite beam worker Tan Sixin didn't win the AYOF beam final: she had two major balance checks (punch front, sheep jump) and landed her dismount on her head. Her dismount looked pretty scary in prelims as well, so that's obviously something she needs to work on. Still, outstanding work from the young gymnast from Shanghai; it's obvious why she won the silver in Sydney despite the mistakes. Just look at the way she works in relevé (on her toes)! We can't wait to see more of this girl...

Finally, this is Cui Jie's gold-medal-winning 14.825 floor routine. The dance obviously needs some work (there are far too many breaks in the routine), but the tumbling has a lovely effortless quality. Give the girl a couple of years and she'll be a beautiful floor worker.


Cui Jie on the podium after winning the AYOF floor final
(Photo: Matt King/Getty Images)

And for the sake of completeness, here are two Chinese men's vaults from the AYOF, a nice double twist from Liu Zhanteng and an OK single twist from Wang Yongchao. Wang's floor exercise can also be viewed on YouTube. He'll need to upgrade the difficulty, but there's definitely some potential there.

More Chinese news to follow soon...

And Now for Something Completely Different...

We thought we'd share some very recent Chinese photos with you. The following pictures were taken in Beijing, where the national women's team recently did a photo shoot for the upcoming Chinese New Year (January 26). The actual photos will probably be published in a few weeks.

In some of the photos the girls seem to be rehearsing a dance of some kind - probably for the annual TV gala, which will probably be aired in 10 to 14 days. Yang Yilin is conspiciously absent from the proceedings, which suggests that she's still recovering from her back injury. On the other hand, Deng Linlin appears to be an active participant, and that probably means she's fully recovered from the minor knee surgery she underwent in November. Olympic alternate He Ning got to participate in the dance, which probably means she's considered a top prospect for 2009.





The pictures below suffer from oversharpening and resizing, but still, they're cute. Check out the shoes!







Sources: QQ and QQ again.

Liu Xuan Encourages Chinese Juniors

The Sina story below has no news value whatsoever, but we liked it, so we thought we'd share it with you.

Liu Xuan appears before juniors and is revealed by her coach to have been a short, fat stump of a girl

It's only been 3 months since the end of the Beijing Olympic Games, but the country's troops are already preparing for the London Olympics. Recently, 22 junior gymnasts trained together in Beijing for a week, meaning they were very close to the national team. On December 8, Sydney Olympic champion Liu Xuan made an appearance at the training center. She spoke about her own entry into the national team, and how coach Lu Shanzhen "mercilessly" called her "a small, fat stump of a girl."


Liu Xuan, looking not the slightest bit like a small, fat stump of a girl

Yesterday, the 22 juniors, who hail from all over China, trained on all 4 events at the national training center, under the watchful eyes of all the national team coaches. The coaches will choose the very best from among these juniors, after which the girls in question will enter the national team to prepare for the London Olympics. Although these gymnasts are young, they're all very much aware of what is at stake at this training camp, so they're trying with all their might to show off what they're capable of. The coaches say they don't have any requirements which the girls have to meet; basically, the coaches are relying on their experience to pick the girls with the greatest potential.

For all this, the young girls are still doing their utmost to make sure the coaches remember them. Coach He Hua told us an interesting story: "These young girls are really cute. I'm spending all my time with 4 juniors at the moment, but I kept forgetting their names. Then out of the blue, they told me their childhood names [terms of endearment used by the parents while the kids are young, comparable to "Katie" for "Katrina", etc.], and suddenly I found myself able to remember their names."

It so happened that Sydney Olympic champion Liu Xuan paid a visit to the national training center while the juniors were there. Seeing how seriously the young girls were taking their tryout for the national team, people got very curious as to how Liu's tryout for the national team had been. Perhaps seeing that his young hopefuls were very promising, coach Lu Shanzhen, who was in a very good mood, also "mercilessly" recounted his memories of Liu Xuan attending the training camp to try out for the national team: "What I remember most about her [Liu Xuan] is that she had very large hands and feet. These things are really prominent in athletes. At the time Liu Xuan was a small, fat stump of a girl with very dark eyebrows." In addition, coach Lu revealed that Liu Xuan wasn't a very cheerful-looking girl at the time, perhaps because she'd been a bit of cry-baby ever since she was a small child. 　　

But the nicely dressed Liu Xuan made no bones about telling the truth either, telling the juniors about her own experience of being booted off the national team. "After the first time I was removed from the team, they said it was because my body shape didn't meet their requirements. I wasn't slender enough. So my then coach was absolutely determined to give me high-quality routines, and the year after I won the national championships."


Liu Xuan, 2000 Olympic champion on beam

It's generally known that of the 22 juniors at the training camp, only about 10 will officially make the national team. It seems that Liu Xuan is telling these young girls her personal history to let them know that setbacks don't matter. So long as you have the perseverance to train hard, you can become an Olympic champion.

Amen to that.

And for those of you who missed our earlier post on this, here's a video of Liu Xuan plying her new trade!

China's Strategy for the Next Four Years

Yesterday Sina posted 2 rather interesting articles on the current state of Chinese gymnastics. The articles start off with the question of why China is sending so many of its top female gymnasts to the World Cup Final at a time when other nations are giving their stars some well-earned (and in many cases badly needed) rest. They then go on to analyze China's strengths and weaknesses on both the men's and the women's side, and describe the country's strategies to remain the world's No. 1 force in the sport in the next quadrennium. The article below is an in-depth (read: pretty long) summary of those 2 articles, the originals of which can be found here and here.

Women's team

Have you ever wondered, like we've found ourselves doing, why China is sending almost its entire gold-medal-winning Olympic squad to the World Cup Final at a time when other countries can't be bothered to send even one gymnast to Spain? It's not because China is hungry for more medals. If it were, the country would send its top male gymnasts to Madrid as well as its top female gymnasts, which it's not doing. (Zhang Hongtao, Feng Zhe and Yan Mingyong will defend China's honor in the men's finals. None of those gymnasts was on the Olympic team.)


He Kexin (photo: Sohu)

The answer to the question appears to be that Cheng Fei, Jiang Yuyuan, Yang Yilin, He Kexin, and Li Shanshan are flying to Madrid tomorrow to score "impression marks," which coach Lu Shanzhen hopes will help China net another Olympic team gold in 4 years' time.

"Having experienced the baptism that was the Beijing Olympic Games, the Chinese women's team has finally become the world's strongest team in the true sense of the word," Lu Shanzhen told Sina with a sigh. "Although the team wasn't so obviously superior as the men's team, it definitely made history."

In Lu's opinion, the Beijing team gold turned the Chinese women's team from a second-rate team with the occasional title on individual events into a top team. (We think he's being somewhat harsh there. In our opinion, China has been a top team for years, but it seems Coach Lu's standards are higher than ours.) And now he feels the team must capitalize on that new reputation, lest the judges start thinking of them as - in our words - a bunch of likable fuckups again.

"Gymnastics is a sport in which people give marks," Lu explained. "Until now, the Chinese women's team wasn't very strong. At any rate, that was the judges' perception. The reason why we didn't give our Olympic team a rest period after the Olympics [the women's team took it easy for about a month after the Olympics, whereas the male gymnasts only just returned to the gym, some 3 months after the end of the Olympics], but rather let them take part in one international competition after the other, was to give the judges a continuing opportunity to see our Olympic team's level. We must convince the judges that the Chinese women's victory wasn't a fluke, but rather a natural outcome of our strength. We hope that endeavors like this will help us give the judges a fundamentally different impression of the Chinese women's team. We hope to make the Chinese women's team a brand in its own right from now on."


Jiang Yuyuan (photo: Sohu)
Lu realizes the Chinese women will have their work cut out for them. And for once, he says, they won't just focus on technique, which is what set them apart in Beijing. Now that they've mastered the technical aspects, Lu thinks the Chinese girls must become stronger in the "soft" aspects of the sport: performance and experience. In other words, they need a maturer style. And in order to get that, they need to compete more. So that's why they've been so busy touring Europe lately - to gain experience and to score what Lu calls "impression marks."

Basically, Lu hopes that China's top female gymnasts can get a foothold at international competitions, thus becoming "symbolic figures" (his words) and obtaining "as much approval from the judges as possible," all with an eye to the judges being more favorably disposed to them in future competitions.

"Our female gymnasts' competitive careers usually last much shorter than our male gymnasts'," said Lu. "Our current group is excellent. At the Beijing Olympics they made a very good impression on the judges, so I hope that, while they're up to it, they can take part in as many international competitions as possible. China will profit from this at the 2012 Olympics."

But ongoing exposure is only one of the methods the Chinese women's team will employ in its preparations for London 2012. Reportedly a large group of 12-and-13-year-old girls from all over the country will have a ten-day training camp in Beijing from this week onward. After next year's National Games, they'll have another big training camp, after which a few lucky juniors will be invited to the national team, to be prepared for the 2012 Olympics. Lu hopes the 2012 team will be a nice mix of veterans and youngsters. Ideally he'd like to see Cheng Fei on that team, but Cheng herself isn't ready to commit to that yet, although she has said she'll go on competing if the team really needs her.


Cheng Fei (photo: Reuters)
Men's team

Men's head coach Huang Yubin is expressing reservations about his team's short-term prospects. Apparently he feels that China (the most populous nation on earth, with arguably the most productive clubs in the world) lacks depth. At least, when it comes to all-arounders.

"As everybody knows, the International Gymnastics Federation will soon start using new rules. Once the new rules are in effect, all-around gymnasts will play an even more prominent role on the team than they do now. But as far as our team is concerned, once Yang Wei and Li Xiaopeng have retired, we'll have very few all-arounders," said Huang Yubin. 　　


Li Xiaopeng (photo: Sohu)
According to Huang, Yang Wei is relatively weak on high bar, but his routines on the 5 other events are world-class. Li Xiaopeng's only weakness is said to be pommel horse. In Huang Yubin's opinion, high-level all-arounders like Yang and Li were the main reason why China won the Olympic gold in Beijing. China will need such high-level all-arounders to win again in 4 years' time. But among the new generation of male Chinese gymnasts, nobody comes close to the 2 veterans in terms of all-around potential. 　

Huang Yubin told Sina that the Chinese are already selecting the boys who will represent China at the next two Olympic Games. A while ago they hand-picked 10 young gymnasts in places as far away as Jiangsu and Guizhou. Men's coach Chen Xiong specifically went to visit them at their clubs to check how they were doing. According to Huang, Chen was very satisfied with these 13-to-17-year-old boys' level. But, he went on to say, male gymnasts need 5 to 8 years' intense preparation to get ready for big competitions, which means London 2012 will come too soon for most of these kids. Huang expects no more than 1 or 2 of them to make the 2012 Olympic team. So the task of guarding China's honor at the next Olympic Games will befall to current team members like Chen Yibing, Xiao Qin, Zou Kai, Feng Zhe, Teng Haibin, and so on. Unless, of course, Huang Yubin can get Yang Wei, Li Xiaopeng, and Huang Xu (all of whom are pushing 30) to stick around until 2012, which he's trying very hard to do.


Chen Yibing (photo: Sohu)

"I hope Li Xiaopeng, Yang Wei, and Huang Xu can go on until the 2012 London Olympic Games," is what Huang Yubin has been telling the media about his 3 most experienced disciples ever since the Beijing Olympics.

For the time being, Li, Yang, and Huang are hardly even training. Over 3 months after the Beijing Olympics, China's male gymnasts are still leading lives which don't leave them much time to train. Yang Wei and Li Xiaopeng haven't returned to the team yet, although Yang Wei has expressed an interest in doing so soon. Huang Xu, Chen Yibing, Xiao Qin, and Zou Kai have only just left their social and commercial activities behind them and returned to what is described as "restorative training," as opposed to "competitive training." It is hoped that they'll soon get back into the swing of things and stay around for another 4 years, as China obviously needs them to defend its Olympic title.

Without the veterans, Huang Yubin says, winning the 2012 Olympic team title will be quite a challenge for China.

Good News for Those of Us Who Hate China's Blue Eyeshadow!

If, like us, you've wondered for the last few years when the Chinese girls were going to ditch their bright blue eyeshadow and wear something less conspicuous and more yellow-and-red-friendly instead, we have good news for you. Apparently things are going to change!

Chinese head coach Lu Shanzhen spoke to several Chinese journalists yesterday. Naturally most of the conversation revolved about Cheng Fei and her post-Olympic plans, but Lu also had some news about China's current training camp. And - wait for it - about the team's makeup.


Jiang Yuyuan and her blue eyeshadow (photo: Getty Images)

Apparently some "Internet friends" suggested to Lu that the women's gymnastics team invite a makeup artist to teach the girls how to put on sophisticated makeup. And apparently Lu has come to the conclusion that this is a good idea. "The girls must learn all sorts of skills," he was quoted as saying by Sina. "Which means more than just unceasingly increasing their start values."

What can we say? We look forward to seeing the Chinese in their next big competition. Will there be any blue eyeshadow? Stay tuned!

A few other tidbits from the Sina article...

It seems the Chinese women's team has started its traditional "winter training" in Beijing. Yesterday, Coach Lu told reporters that, without any of the usual brouhaha, the girls' winter training had begun. Among the girls in winter training are Cheng Fei, He Kexin, Yang Yilin, and other Olympic team members, some of whom are currently preparing for the World Cup Final.

Meanwhile, the selection process for the "seeds of the 2012 Olympic team" has also begun. According to Lu Shanzhen, 60 young national team members born in 1995 and 1996 from all over the country have convened in Beijing for a joint training camp that will last either a week or 10 days, depending on which source you believe.

Lu also said that China's Olympic gold medal in the team competition had proven that the women's team's method of using new people all the time so as to find the strongest contenders for a place on the A team worked, so now he wants to see more fresh faces on the team. Expect to see lots of different Chinese gymnasts at various international competitions over the next few years!


Lu Shanzhen and Cheng Fei after Cheng's Olympic disaster (photo: Amy Sancetta/AP Photo)
As to Cheng Fei, Lu said that she's currently in a post-Olympic readjustment period. She's certainly keeping up her difficulty, but she's not yet in her Olympic peak form. Over the next 1 or 2 years, says Lu, Cheng Fei's training will be readjusted. This 1-or-2-year readjustment period will determine whether or not Cheng will be able to compete in London in 2012.

Lu admitted to giving his team captain special treatment. "When it comes to an 'old general' like her, we must definitely give her a relaxed environment to train in."

He also said he believed Cheng would be hard to replace as the team leader, which is one more reason why he hopes to have her around for 4 more years. "If everything takes its normal course, there's absolutely no reason why she shouldn't be able to compete until 2012, as long as she herself is willing to persevere. After all, she really isn't that old yet. She has no injuries or health problems. She's in better shape than some of our youngsters. Moreover, even if Cheng Fei takes a step back, she's still going to have the greatest difficulty and strength on vault and floor. If other people want to surpass her, they'll have their work cut out for them."

With a coach who's that keen on keeping her, we expect to see Cheng around for a few more years.

The Great Injury Post

We've been reliably informed by the DTB (that's the German Gymnastics Federation for you) that Oksana Chusovitina was supposed to undergo surgery in the Swiss city of Basel yesterday. According to the official DTB site, Chuso has completely torn the Achilles tendon of her right leg, but hopes to be back in training by February. Now that's ambition for you.

Edited to add: The DTB reports that Chuso's operation was successful. She is expected to leave the hospital this weekend.

Meanwhile, Marie-Sophie Hindermann's injury would appear to be a bit more serious. The DTB site reports that Hindermann has a cyst and scarred tissue on her Achilles tendon. Like Chuso, she will undergo surgery in Basel, to remove the cyst and scar tissue, which is expected to make the tendon stronger. According to the DTB, Hindermann is looking at two weeks in the hospital plus a six-to-eight-month period of recovery. Ouch.


Marie-Sophie Hindermann (Photo: Lluis Gene/Getty Images)

As far as we know, the Chinese girls are still struggling as well. Chinese newspapers reported a while ago that Deng Linlin was suffering from a knee injury, while Li Shanshan was suffering from an ankle injury. Jiang Yuyuan is said to be recovering from an elbow injury. She's working out, but not at full strength.

As we reported a while ago, Team Romania is having its share of injuries too. According to Nicolae Forminte, Ana Maria Tamirjan, Gabriela Dragoi and Andreea Grigore are all unable to compete at present because of health issues. No wonder Sandra Izbasa is being kept so busy!


Andreea Grigore (Photo: Getty Images)

We're wondering now how Dasha Joura is doing, following her ordeal at the Olympics. And what about Isabelle Severino, who tore her Achilles tendon at the Europeans? Mum is the word, it seems.

Edited to add: No news on Dasha Joura, but according to the Australian Gymnastics Blog, Georgia Bonora just underwent surgery on both ankles. She's expected to be out of action for at least three months. Ouch.

Yang Yilin Wins Chinese Nationals

Despite a fall from beam, Yang Yilin won the all-around title at this weekend's Chinese Nationals, held in the northeastern city of Qingdao. It was the second national championship of the year following last spring's team championships.

According to Sports.Sohu, Yang edged out He Ning for the all-around title, 59.15-59.10. Ranking third was junior Chen Chuyan. Yang later added a bronze medal on bars, where she stumbled on her dismount. He Ning was more successful in the event finals, winning silver medals on both bars and floor.


AA winners, from left to right: He Ning, Yang Yilin, Chen Chuyan. Doesn't Yang look great in that black leo?

Many stars were missing from the championships. There was no sign of Li Shanshan, Zhang Nan, Pang Panpan, Zhou Zhuoru or Sui Lu. Xiao Sha was there and competing, but looked to be suffering from a bad cold. Deng Linlin only competed on beam, Jiang Yuyuan only on floor. Both were successful on their one event. Cheng Fei won vault with two relatively easy vaults and took the bronze on floor after going out of bounds on one of her passes. Judging from the photos of the event, Cheng has been taking it easy since the Olympics. She looked distinctly chubby in Qingdao. Then again, she was rumored to be on a very strict diet prior to the Olympics. Can't blame the girl for easing up a bit afterwards...


Cheng Fei in Qingdao (photos: Sports.Sohu)

Results of the event finals, held October 17-19:
Vault
1. Cheng Fei 15.137
2. Deng Shaojie 14.662
3. (tie) Shi Xiaopeng, Huang Xiaoying 14.400

Uneven bars
1. He Kexin 16.800
2. He Ning
3. Yang Yilin

Balance beam
1. (tie) Deng Linlin, Xiao Sha, Guo Wei 15.700

Floor exercise
1. Jiang Yuyuan 15.425
2. He Ning 15.050
3. Cheng Fei 14.875