Liu Tingting, three others complete training in USA
Doha: Four Chinese women artistic gymnasts recently completed a 20-day training programme at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, the United States.
Promising gymnast Liu Tingting, who won the individual all-around along with team, balance beam titles at this year’s Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, Chen Yile, Guan Chenchen and Li Qi went through the paces under the institute’s head coach Qiao Liang from December 11.
Devastated by their unimpressive show at the Rio Games last year, where China claimed only two medals — bronze for its men’s and women’s teams — the Chinese Gymnastics Federation (CGF) has drawn up an extensive programme as a part of their preparation for the next year’s Asian Games and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It was a long fall from the 2008 Beijing Games where they claimed both the men’s and women’s team titles.
China had won seven out of eight men’s golds in Beijing, but finished second behind the United States in London four years later.
However, Japan ended their Asian rivals’ eight-year reign as Olympic men’s team champions at Rio as they returned home with a bronze.
But there has been a drastic change in the federation’s attitude which was reflected in their gymnasts’ performances at the 47th FIG Artistic World Championships in Montreal, Canada, in October where they won three gold, one silver and two bronze medals to claim the overall title.
“The future is bright. Our target will be to win medals in Tokyo,” CGF President Zhongyi Miao told www.agu-gymnastics.com in a recent interview.
The results are sure to boost their chances at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where they would hope to regain their lost glory.
