GYMNASTS from China

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Gymnasts of all time. This list of famous Chinese Gymnasts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Gymnasts.

1. Lou Yun (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 36.48, Lou Yun is the most famous Chinese Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Lou Yun (Chinese: 楼云; pinyin: Lóu Yún; born June 23, 1964, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang) is a retired Chinese gymnast who competed in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games, winning the vault twice. Lou Yun began gymnastics training at the Hangzhou Sports School for Amateurs, and in the same year he also entered the provincial sports school of Zhejiang. He was selected for the National Gymnastics team in 1977. Known for his specialty in the vault, he won the 1987 World Championships in that event, in addition to his two gold medals.

2. Li Xiaopeng (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 35.80, Li Xiaopeng is the 2nd most famous Chinese Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Li Xiaopeng (Chinese: 李小鹏; pinyin: Lǐ Xiǎopéng; July 27, 1981) is a male Chinese gymnast, who specializes in parallel bars and vault. He currently holds 16 world titles, more than any other gymnast in China. On 29 August 2009, he was the torch bearer for the torch relay of the East Asian Games in Hong Kong. He retired from the sport in late 2009.

3. Li Xiaoshuang (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 34.98, Li Xiaoshuang is the 3rd most famous Chinese Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Li Xiaoshuang (Chinese: 李小双; pinyin: Lǐ Xiǎoshuāng; born November 1, 1973) is a Chinese gymnast and Olympic champion. Li Xiaoshuang was born in Xiantao, Hubei. His gymnastic talent was discovered at the age of six. He and is twin brother Li Dashuang were members of China's gymnastics team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He earned three Olympic medals at those games: the gold medal for floor exercise, a silver for overall team championship, and a bronze on the rings. In 1995, Li won the 1995 World Championships in Sabae, Japan and helped the Chinese team to a second consecutive team championship. During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, a slip by Li in the final compulsory team event was one of the team's errors that caused the Chinese team to finish second behind the Russians. Li competed solidly, however, and qualified into the all-around finals where he won the gold medal over Russian Alexei Nemov by 0.05 of a point. Li became the first Chinese Olympic all-around Champion Li retired from gymnastic competition in 1997 and has since started his own sporting apparel company. Li is also a senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army.

4. Yang Wei (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 34.64, Yang Wei is the 4th most famous Chinese Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Yang Wei (Chinese: 杨威; pinyin: Yáng Wēi; born February 8, 1980, in Xiantao, Hubei) is a Chinese gymnast.

5. Zou Kai (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 33.37, Zou Kai is the 5th most famous Chinese Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Zou Kai (Chinese: 邹凯; pinyin: Zōu Kǎi; born February 25, 1988, in Luzhou, Sichuan) is a five-time Olympic and five-time World champion Chinese gymnast, specializing in floor exercise and the horizontal bar. Zou won his first three Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, resulting in a nomination for the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year in 2009. He later won two additional gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. As of 2024, Zou's total of five gold medals and one bronze ties him for the record of second most most Olympic gold medals won by any Chinese athlete in Olympic history, behind Ma Long, and ties him for the record of third most medals won overall by a Chinese athlete, behind Zhang Yufei (ten medals), Wu Minxia, and Huang Xuechen (seven medals each).

6. Chen Yibing (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 32.59, Chen Yibing is the 6th most famous Chinese Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Chen Yibing (Chinese: 陈一冰; pinyin: Chén Yībīng; born 19 December 1984) is a Chinese gymnast, a four-time world champion on still rings. Chen was part of the Chinese team that won the gold medal in the team event at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011 (no team competition in 2005 and 2009) and the Asian Games in 2006 and 2010. Since his international debut at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, he was almost unbeatable on his specialist event, still rings, except to his teammate Yan Mingyong in 2009 and the Brazilian Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He became the 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011 world champions on still rings. Chinese gymnastics head coach Huang Yubin questioned Chen's position at the 2012 Summer Olympics, He was quoted as saying that "because of the ugly behaviors of the judges, it has hurt Chinese Gymnast, as well as being a humiliation to this event." According to Xinhua News, Huang also called the night a "dark night in the history of gymnastics". H. Chen was also a member of the 2008 Beijing Olympics team and won gold for China in men's team gymnastics as well as gold on the Rings. His still rings performance was described as 'perfect' and 'textbook-worthy', highly acclaimed for its precision and high level of difficulty. He is a student at the Beijing Normal University, the present captain of the men's Chinese gymnastic team and currently has 8 world titles and 3 Olympics gold medals.

7. Lu Li (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 32.37, Lu Li is the 7th most famous Chinese Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Lu Li (Chinese: 陆莉; pinyin: Lù Lì; born August 30, 1976) is a Chinese gymnast. Lu made the Chinese national team in late 1991. However, liver illness almost prevented her from competing in the Olympic Games. In April 1992, just a few months before the Barcelona Games, she made her international debut at the World Championships in Paris, where her highly innovative uneven bars routine caught the attention of the gymnastics world. She only placed 4th because of a large step on the dismount, (although she was the leading gymnast in qualifying for the final). Lu is best known for her gold medal on the uneven bars in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She won this with a perfect 10, which she achieved the same night as Lavinia Miloșovici also scored a perfect 10. Lu Li and Lavinia Miloșovici remain the last two people to score perfect 10s in Olympic competition to date. Lu Li also won a silver on the beam in the same games (tied with American Shannon Miller with a score of 9.912). Lu had troubles on her beam performance in the all-round competition, and placed a disappointing 34th. Lu competed in the 1993 Chinese National Games and won the uneven bars title (tied with Luo Li, who would go on to win the 1994 World Championships in Brisbane). She retired shortly thereafter. In 2000, Lu Li moved to California and was a coach there. She married Kim David Gussenhoven and has a son named JD. She moved to North Carolina in 2007, still as a coach. In 2009, Lu Li moved to Stockton, California and coached at Champion Gymnastics Academy. On September 1, 2009, Li, Kim, and JD moved to Washington and she was hired to coach at Emerald City Gymnastics in Redmond. Recently, she has started coaching gymnasts in Gig Harbor. Li then coached at Tech Gymnastics (formerly Eastside Gymnastics Academy) in Woodinville, WA. Currently Li coaches at Black Hills Gymnastics in Lacey, WA. They divorced in 2021.

8. Dong Dong (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 29.16, Dong Dong is the 8th most famous Chinese Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Dong Dong (Chinese: 董栋; pinyin: Dǒng Dòng; born April 13, 1989, in Zhengzhou, Henan) is a Chinese trampoline gymnast. He is an Olympic champion and four-time medalist, winning gold at London 2012, silver at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and bronze at Beijing 2008. Between 2007 and 2014, he made the podium at every World Championships and Olympics.

9. Deng Linlin (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 28.68, Deng Linlin is the 9th most famous Chinese Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Deng Linlin (simplified Chinese: 邓琳琳; traditional Chinese: 鄧琳琳; pinyin: Dèng Línlín; pronounced [də̂ŋ lǐnlǐn]; born April 21, 1992), is a Chinese retired gymnast. She was a member of the Chinese team that won the team gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, People's Republic of China, and is a three-time World Cup gold medalist. She is the 2009 World and 2012 Olympic champion on balance beam.

10. Cheng Fei (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 28.00, Cheng Fei is the 10th most famous Chinese Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Cheng Fei (Chinese: 程菲; pinyin: Chéng Fēi; born May 29, 1988) is a Chinese retired artistic gymnast. She is a three-time World Champion on the vault (2005–2007) and 2006 World Champion on floor exercise. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Chinese teams for the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark and 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She was also a member of the silver medal-winning Chinese team for the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.