Page 8 August 23, 2014 2014 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES AROUND NANJING A WINNING TRADITION

THE NEWEST STARS FROM NANJING THE CITY’S BIGGEST STARS

YAN MEILING XIAO QIN

Xiao Qin (born was one of the favor- Rugby Sevens player Yan Meil- on Jan 12, 1985) is a ites for the Olym- ing’s skin tone and physique under- male Chinese gym- pic title on pommel score her level of dedication to the nast. He specializ- horse, but his dreams junior women’s Rugby Sevens team. es in the horizon- were shattered when Extra training, which has made tal bar and paral- he fell during the her skin darker and body stronger, lel bars, but is best qualification round. has helped establish her as the lead- known for his work He qualified for the er of the team. on the pommel horizontal bar event Yan, 17, has a body well suited horse for which he fi nal but placed sixth. for rugby. Although she is only 1.60 has won Olympic, It was also a disap- meters tall, she has made up for it world, national, pointing Olympics by training exceptionally hard. She East , for his team, who was doubles the amount of training and World Cup titles. He joined favored to win gold but instead time her coach asks of her and she the Chinese national team in fi nished fi fth. At the 2008 Olym- has improved her skills by studying 1999 and is part of the People’s pics in , he redeemed tapes of top-level rugby games. Liberation Army. He has quali- himself by winning gold on the That is why Yan has become the fied for two Olympics. At the pommel horse along with gold indisputable core of the team in just 2004 Olympics in Athens, Xiao for his team. two years. Under her leadership, the ZHAO RUIRUI women’s junior rugby Sevens team won bronze at the Nanjing Youth A combination of the fourth Xingyun Olympics. In the fight for third brawn and brains, (Nebula) Awards, place, China beat the United States Zhao Ruirui (born organized by the 12-0. on Oct 8, 1981) is World Chinese Sci- “Our goal in the tournament We should never pull out of a con- um in 2016. both a former pro- ence Fiction Asso- was to beat the US and we did it. frontation during a game to avoid “It is really a hard sport, particu- fessional volleyball ciation. Born into a We have done well and I am happy being hurt.” larly for girls, because of its physi- player and a best- family of volleyball with a bronze,” said Yan. Rugby Sevens has been included cally demanding nature and high selling science fic- players, Zhao inher- Talking about her training, Yan in the 2016 Summer Olympics in risk of injury,” said Yan. tion writer. She ited her parents’ said: “We have to exercise real- Rio de Janeiro. “The prospect of competing in was a member of height, speed and ly hard to build muscles and get Yan said she and her teammates the Olympics really inspires us. We the gold-winning power. Her versatile stronger. We need to be very strong are ready to put in the hard work hope that our hard work will pay o Chinese volleyball attack and defensive to protect ourselves during games. to hopefully make it to the podi- and lead us to Olympic glory.” team at the 2004 skills made her indis- Athens Games and pensable to the Chi- WU FAN the bronze-win- nese national team. ning team in Beijing four years In 1999, she began playing pro- later. Last year, Zhao was one fessionally for the Bayi (Army) When Wu Fan was a 17-year-old track national team coach and made it onto the of eight science fiction writers Keming Surface Industry team athlete, a coach saw her potential in rugby. junior team. and editors to win top prizes at of Hunan province. Her parents were opposed to the transi- At the Nanjing Youth Olympics, her tion at fi rst, but that didn’t stop Wu from solid performances helped China claim a YANG falling in love with the sport once she bronze, fulfi lling the team’s goal of making picked it up. it to the podium. (born equally brilliant singles “I told my mom ‘I fell in love with it so She still has a lot potential to be realized, on Dec 9, 1963) is a stars and there will be no regrets’,” she said. Wu, who both physically and technically. Two years former Chinese bad- Xiong Guobao, Yang is now 18, showed great skills right away. from now, Wu hopes to be a key member minton player. He is played an important The first year she played Sevens, at the of China’s Olympic team and again stand one of two badmin- role in making China age of 15, she caught the attention of the upon the podium. ton players in the the major world bad- world to have won minton superpower. WU SHENGPING two World Badmin- His play was instru- ton Championships mental in China’s con- men’s singles titles secutive Wu Shengping has the poten- training. Due to the recovered enough for consecutively (1987, (men’s world team) tial to be as great a diver as severity of the inju- her to be one of the 1989), the other titles in 1986, 1988, and Guo Jingjing. At the age of 18, ry, the national team two divers represent- being . He 1990. In 1991, he retired the native has already sent Wu back to the ing China. also won the men’s and started coaching claimed 16 medals in national and Jiangsu provincial Wu’s coach, Xu Jie, singles gold medal when badmin- in . In the next year, he international competitions. team to focus on reha- said she never com- ton was a demonstration sport at guided Malaysia to its fi rst Thom- She is currently in the shad- bilitation. plains or throws any the 1988 Summer Olympics. He as Cup victory in 25 years, the only ow of Chen Ruolin on the China “I cried many times tantrums. possessed great agility, quick foot- occasion since 1967 in which nei- women’s team, but such is the when I thought about “It’s hard to imag- work, accurate power, and cool- ther nor China has won fi ckle nature of the sport that you my future and if I ine that she could ness under pressure, and is wide- the cup. He then stayed in Malay- never know when a diver will sud- could continue div- overcome such a ly regarded as one of the finest sia to develop his business for bad- denly burst to prominence. ing,” Wu told a CCTV big difficulty. Look- singles players in the history of minton equipment. He returned to Unfortunately, her career suf- reporter in July. ing back, even I was the sport. As a member of China’s China in 2000 and opened a bad- fered a blow last year when she At the Youth in doubt at the time golden generation of minton club named after himself dislocated her right shoulder in Games, Wu’s right shoulder has (she could come back),” she said. the 1980s that included the almost in Nanjing.