Meanwhile, in Other Parts of the World...

--- According to Sina, Yang Wei may become a specialist rather than an all-arounder. The 2008 Olympic all-around champion, who only just resumed systematic training after a long break and a high-profile wedding, says he does want to take part in this year's National Games (a big sporting event in China), but "not necessarily in the all-around." "I first want to resume regular training. I haven't made up my mind yet about what I'll do later, but I definitely want to represent Hubei Province at the National Games," said Yang. "Last time, the Hubei men's team placed sixth. I hope we can do better this year."


Yang Wei in Beijing (photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts)

--- In Holland a few more unflattering articles have been published on the goings-on in the national women's gymnastics team. The country's largest newspaper, Telegraaf, just devoted a couple of articles (here and here) to perceived wrongs in the Dutch gymnastics world, quoting former national team members Petra Witjes and Berber van den Berg, as well as current national team member Loes Linders' mother. We're not going to post the articles here as we're too busy to translate them and they don't go beyond the usual arguments against women's gymnastics (i.e. it exploits children who suffer verbal abuse at the hands of their ambitious and frequently socially inept coaches and don't dare contradict those coaches for fear of losing their place on the team), but it is more bad press for Dutch gymnastics, which once upon a time seemed so promising...


Sanne Wevers, Dutch female gymnast of the year
(photo: Iris van den Broek/Gymnasticsphotography)

--- On a more positive note, the same newspaper, Telegraaf, reports that the Dutch Gymnastics Federation has named Sanne Wevers and Epke Zonderland as its top athletes of the year 2008. Zonderland made the Olympic high bar final and won the event at the World Cup Final; Wevers won both bars and beam at the Glasgow Grand Prix and made the World Cup Final on beam, from which she had to scratch due to an elbow injury. Holland's bronze-medal-winning team at the Junior European Championships received a special "young talent award."

Yang Wei: "I'm Not Ready to Give Up Gymnastics Yet"

About a month ago, Yang Wei and his long-time girlfriend, 2000 Olympian Yang Yun, got married on Hainan Island. They got a lot of flak for their lavish ceremony, and had to give a press conference and do some explaining on Yang Wei's blog afterward to explain the situation and justify their choices and behavior. Since then, they've led a quietish life.



According to Yang Wei, his life hasn't changed much since he and Yang Yun got married, mostly because they'd been together for 8 years before tying the knot. "Really, our life together is no different now from what it was before we got married. The only thing that has changed is our names. We no longer call each other by our names. Instead we call each other 'hubby' and 'wifey.'"

The only other changes to the Yangs' post-marital life consist in the fact that they've bought new curtains for their home and that Yang Yun seems to have become a more enthusiastic cook. Said Yang Wei: "Yang Yun is more willing to go to the kitchen now. I can have home-cooked food 3 times a day now, which is great."

One thing Yang Wei has discovered over the last few months is that he's not quite ready yet to rest on his laurels.

"After the Olympic Games, every athlete wants to rest and recover, especially athletes who have actually won. Once such competitions are over, you really feel drained, both physically and mentally. I'm not the only one who feels that way. After the Olympics, I did what is important in life [i.e. he got married], but while I was enjoying not having to train anymore, while I was at home with Yang Yun all day, I realized I kept missing something. I missed the time when we all used to play soccer and warm up together before getting started on our workouts, as we did each time we trained," Yang Wei said. "I discovered that without gymnastics, I didn't have any concrete new goals, I didn't know what to do. So I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that I'm not ready to give up gymnastics yet."


(photo: Xinhua)

Yang went on to say, "I'll arrive at the gym on time every day, and I'm going to train just like I used to. I can tell everyone with certainty that I'm not going to retire just yet. I'll definitely take part in next year's National Games."

As for the 2012 Olympics, he's not ready to commit to that yet. "I think I'll let nature take its course." 　　

Somehow we don't think that's the answer Huang Yubin wanted to hear, Mr. Yang.

The above quotes were taken from 3 Sina articles which can be found here, here, and here.

Chinese News Roundup

While certain Chinese gymnasts were competing in Europe at the Massilia Gym Cup and the Milan Grand Prix, life went on in China for others. A quick, injury-free roundup of Sina stories from this weekend...



--- On November 21 Olympic all-around champ Yang Wei received China's Best Athlete of the Year Award. In his acceptance speech a calm and collected Yang praised and thanked his teammates for their collective effort, which apparently meant a lot to him, then expressed his gratitude to his bride, Yang Yun. We're guessing the award means that the powers that be have forgiven Yang for his extremely lavish wedding, for which he came under a lot of fire in China.

--- Not surprisingly, Yang's coach Huang Yubin was voted Best Coach of the Year, not just in gymnastics, but overall. Huang couldn't personally accept the award as he was in Taiwan, but his fellow coach Wang Guoqing expressed his gratitude on his behalf.

--- Meanwhile, Jiang Yuyuan has won an award of her own, albeit a less formal one. According to her coach, Zhang Xia, Jiang is the "most intelligent, cutest and cleverest" member of the Chinese women's team. We'll second that!


Jiang Yuyuan in front of a character that means "number". That'll be No. 1 then.
--- Finally, on a visit to Hong Kong University, Cheng Fei indicated that she might like to get a degree there after her retirement from gymnastics, whenever that may be. She also said she hoped to be back in Hong Kong next year, when the East Asian Games will be held in the city. We hope so too!

The Morning After the Day Before

Usually, couples who have just had a big and lavish wedding like to spend the next few weeks in a nice and secluded spot, enjoying each other's company and avoiding the outside world. Unfortunately, that privilege wasn't granted to Yang Wei and Yang Yun. The morning after the Yangs threw the massive party we reported on yesterday, they found themselves needing to give a press conference to justify that party, which apparently came in for a lot of criticism on the Chinese Internet. How's that for a smooth beginning to married life?


The Yangs at their press conference (Photo: Sports.Sina)

Sina reports that at 10 AM on the morning after their wedding, a bleary-eyed Yang Wei and Yang Yun received the press in their hotel to defend themselves against accusations of extravagance and reckless money-spending. The night before, it had been reported on the Internet that the bride's golden dress cost $4.4 million, her hot air balloon ride cost nearly $15,000, and the couple's bridal chamber at the hotel cost $4,000 per night, which many Chinese people thought a bit profligate.

"We ourselves didn't see [the criticism]," said Yang Wei at the press conference. "We were told by friends. As for whether it was a profligate wedding, we'd rather not say anything on that score. There are things you simply can't explain. All I wish to say is that Yang Yun and I really enjoyed our wedding."

They certainly looked like they did.



For her part, Yang Yun added, "We don't want to clear anything up today. We just want to say that not everything that was reported on the Internet is true."

She also said she never intended the wedding to get as huge as it did. "All we really wanted to do was to let everyone be a witness to our love. We hope that people will understand that."

To which her husband added, "This wedding attracted a lot of attention because it was held so shortly after the Olympics. If I had been a retired athlete, I doubt it would have attracted this much attention. We never intended to get so many people's attention. Our guests are all people from the gymnastics world. We just wanted to give them a nice and relaxing day, but now we're not so relaxed anymore."


Huang Yubin

Elsewhere, Yang Wei's coach Huang Yubin confirmed that the wedding was just what the Chinese gymnastics world needed. He said he didn't think people realized just how hard the Chinese teams had worked in order to win the Olympic team titles for a home audience. So it was great of the Yangs to give the athletes a chance to let their hair down. "It's a very rare opportunity," said Huang. "We haven't been this relaxed in years. Yang Wei's wedding was exactly the right occasion [to let off some steam]. [Li] Dashuang and Xiaoshuang are here too. You could say it's a big get-together for our gymnastics team, with several generations represented."

Huang went on to say that he hoped Yang Wei would not retire after his marriage, and that he felt Yang still had a few good years left in him. When a reporter asked if Yang, at 28, wasn't past his prime, Huang reminded him of Oksana Chusovitina, and said that Yang was still in very good shape.


Chen Yibing

Sina also quoted Yang's teammate Chen Yibing, who said, "Their wedding was very grand, very lively. But when I get married, it will be more low key." Chen also had an original idea for a future honeymoon: to visit the places where he's taken part in major championships. He specifically mentioned Brazil and Denmark. "It's a different way of doing things, but I think it's a nice one."

Yang Wei and Yang Yun Tie the Knot... Finally

Lately, the Chinese press has been all over the preparations for Yang Wei and Yang Yun's upcoming nuptials. First pre-wedding photos were released that showed the Yangs posing gymnastically in different kinds of wedding attire. Then photos were released of Yang Yun trying on a golden wedding gown that was apparently worth 30 million yuan ($4.4 million). And then, finally, on November 6, the big day itself arrived.

And it was big, all right. Like, seriously big.

Sina reports that the Yangs treated their guests to a three-part wedding in the Sanya beach resort on tropical Hainan Island, off China's southern tip.

According to a Sina report, the ceremony started at 9:30 AM on Hainan's Tianya beach, where guests had to wait a while for the bride and groom to arrive. The groom was the first to arrive on the scene - by speed boat, no less. Along with his Olympic teammates Huang Xu, Li Xiaopeng (the best man), Xiao Qin, Chen Yibing, and Zou Kai, Yang was brought on shore to wait for his bride, who arrived a bit later in... a hot air balloon.



Yang Yun didn't get on shore at once. She first made Yang Wei prove his skill as an all-around gymnast by throwing him some cables and making him climb twelve feet through the air to the basket where she herself was waiting. He apparently did so without any great trouble.





Once the couple had safely made it to the ground, they were married by Chinese men's team head coach, Huang Yubin.





It was a relatively short ceremony which lasted about 25 minutes and included a funny interlude where Yang Yun asked her husband three difficult questions. They were as follows:

Yun: "How long have we loved each other?"
Wei: "For eight years now. Over 2400 days."
Yun: "Do you know my breast, waist and hip measurements?"
Wei: "I know they're the most beautiful ones of the year!"
Yun: "Can you get me a BMW Mini Cooper?"
Wei: "Not at present, but I can give you a real horse and a knight on a white horse. I'll definitely present you with those later if I can!"

Which made Yang Yun and the guests laugh. (Note: "real horse" is a play on BMW's Chinese name, which literally translates as "valuable horse.")

After the ceremony, Yang Yun changed into a more traditional Chinese red dress.





At 12:18 PM, the official wedding banquet started in the Yangguang Hotel. This was a fairly formal occasion where Yang Yun wore the stunning $4.4 million dress whose pictures had previously been leaked by the media, and which will reportedly be returned to its Japanese designer, Yumi Katsura, today. There was champagne, there was cake, and there were speeches. According to Sina, both Yang Yun and Yang Wei's mother got quite emotional at one point.


Double happiness (Photos: Sports.Sina)


(This picture and the one below were taken in Shanghai a few days before the wedding.)


Part three of the wedding was an open-air reception which started at 7 PM. This was a much more casual affair where both bride and groom dressed casually. Apparently, Yang Wei hardly drank anything during the reception; he was too busy setting off fireworks and posing for photos with guests.

Sina described the day as both romantic and lively. It certainly looks that way from where we're standing...

We hope the Yangs enjoyed their big day, and wish them lots of happiness in the rest of their life together.