Li Ning
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Li Ning (Template:Zh; Template:Langx; born March 10, 1963, in Liuzhou, Guangxi) is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur, the founder of the eponymous sportswear company Li-Ning, and retired gymnast of Zhuang ethnicity. He lives in Hong Kong.
Gymnastics career
Li started training when he was eight and was selected for the national team in 1980. In 1982, he won six of the seven medals awarded at the Sixth World Cup Gymnastic Competition, earning him the title "Prince of Gymnastics" (Template:Zh).
Li is most famous for winning six medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, the first Olympics in which the People's Republic of China participated. He won three gold medals (in floor exercise, pommel horse, and rings), two silver medals, and one bronze medal. Li became the most decorated Chinese athlete at the first Olympics that China participated in after the founding of the People's Republic in October 1949.
Li won 11 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships medals, including gold medals in the rings (1985) and team all-around (1983).<ref name=sr />
Li took part in his second Olympics at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, despite carrying injuries. It ended an illustrious gymnastic career, as he was off-form.
Post-gymnastics
Li retired from sporting competition in 1988, and in 1990 he founded Li-Ning Company Limited, which sells footwear and sporting apparel in China.<ref name=sr>Template:Cite Sports-Reference</ref> Li remains chairman of the company's board of directors. According to Hurun Report's China Rich List 2014, he has an estimated fortune of RMB 5 billion, making him the 407th wealthiest person in China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Li was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2000, becoming the first Chinese inductee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2017, a statue was erected in his honor on the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux.<ref>Inauguration of the statue of LI Ning </ref>
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Li ignited the cauldron at the opening ceremony after being hoisted high into the air with cables and miming running around the stadium's rim.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Personal life
Li is married to Chen Yongyan, a fellow gymnast who won an Olympic bronze in 1984.<ref name=sr />
See also
References
External links
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- List of competitive results at Gymn Forum
- Li Ning: China's legendary gymnast has combined sporting agility with commercial muscle, 60 Years of Asian Heroes, By Hannah Beech, Time, 2006
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- Pages with broken file links
- 1963 births
- Living people
- Asian Games gold medalists for China
- Asian Games gymnasts for China
- Asian Games gold medalists in gymnastics
- Asian Games silver medalists in gymnastics
- Asian Games silver medalists for China
- Chinese male artistic gymnasts
- Businesspeople from Guangxi
- Gymnasts at the 1982 Asian Games
- Gymnasts at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Gymnasts at the 1986 Asian Games
- Gymnasts at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Gymnasts from Guangxi
- Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games
- Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games
- Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
- Olympic cauldron lighters
- Olympic gold medalists for China
- Olympic gymnasts for China
- Olympic bronze medalists for China
- Olympic silver medalists for China
- Olympic medalists in gymnastics
- Peking University alumni
- People from Liuzhou
- FISU World University Games gold medalists for China
- Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics
- World champion gymnasts
- Zhuang people
- Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade
- 20th-century Chinese sportsmen