Gymnast: Cheng Fei

Cheng Fei is a superstar on the Chinese women's team. With five world gold medals, she led the Chinese to their ultimate goal in Beijing: a team gold.

Olympic Misfortunes:

Though China took team gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cheng had a very tough competition. She fell in the team competition on beam, but China was able to overcome her low score. Then in vault event finals, an event Cheng was expected to win, she hit her first vault only to crash her second. She still earned bronze, but her bad luck continued on floor. With a fall there on a simple front full, the 2006 Floor World Champion ended up out of the medals.

Finally, Cheng seemed to earn redemption on beam. The last event final of the Olympics, Cheng earned bronze behind Americans Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin.

Vaulting Dominance:

Cheng has won the last three consecutive World titles on vault (2005-07). She performs two vaults valued at a 6.5 A score, the highest difficulty vault being performed by women today: the Amanar, and the Cheng, named after her (a round-off, half-on to front flip with 1 1/2 twists).

Watch Cheng vault.

Cool Skills:

Besides her amazing vaulting ability, Cheng does some of the toughest tumbling in the world. She usually mounts floor with a tucked double-double and can also do a whip back to immediate triple full. On balance beam, Cheng does a back handspring to a tucked full.

A True Specialist:

Cheng does not compete in the all-around in major international competitions. She specializes on the vault and floor, and more recently, the balance beam. Uneven bars has always been her weakest event, and by ignoring bars, she has been able to excel on the other three events.

Personal Info:

Cheng was born May 28, 1988 in Huangshi, Hubei Province. She began gymnastics at age three, and made the Chinese National Team in 2001 at age 13. She’s coached by Lu Shanzhen and Liu Qun Lin.

Gymnastics Results:

International:

• 2008 Olympic Games: 1st team; 3rd vault; 3rd beam
• 2008 Tianjin World Cup: 1st vault; 1st beam; 1st floor
• 2007 "Good Luck Beijing" International Invitational: 1st vault; 1st beam; 1st floor
• 2007 World Championships: 2nd team; 1st vault
• 2007 Shanghai World Cup: 1st vault; 1st beam
• 2006 World Championships: 1st team; 1st vault; 1st floor
• 2005 World Championships: 1st vault

National:

• 2008 Chinese National Championships: 1st vault; 1st floor
• 2007 Chinese National Championships: 1st vault; 1st floor

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Top American Olympic Gymnasts
Top International Competitors