Li Xiaopeng

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

Early life and education Li Xiaopeng was born Li Peng. He changed his name in 1997 to avoid sharing the same with the then Premier Li Peng.

He began gymnastics training at Changsha Spare-time Sports School in Hunan Province at the age of 6 and was a member of the Hunan provincial team at 12. Li's diligence and skill soon set him apart from his peers, which could be proved by his several provincial titles. At the age of 15, he was selected into the national team.

Gymnastics career At 16, Li Xiaopeng became China's youngest world (team) gymnastics champion ever when he and his teammates won the men's team final at the 1997 Lausanne World Championships. At the same event, Li also received a silver medal for parallel bars, just second to his teammate Zhang Jingjin, and a bronze for floor exercise.

At the 1999 Tianjin World Championships, Li was part of the Chinese team to become men's team champion. Individually, he won his first gold medal in vault. However, his failure in parallel bars left something to be desired, which pushed him to train harder for the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the Sydney Olympics, Li and his teammates gave an outstanding performance, earning them the gold medal at the prestigious men's team event, a first for Chinese gymnasts. Li also won an individual gold medal in parallel bars.

At the 2003 Anaheim World Championships, Li was the only person to win three gold medals, namely for the men's team final, vault, and parallel bars. Thus, he was voted as the 2003 World Gymnast of the Year.

However, due to a severe foot injury, Li's performance at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games was unsatisfactory. China finished 5th at the men's team final, and Li could only get a bronze in parallel bars, after being undefeated in major competitions since 2000. He was the fourth athlete to compete in the vault event finals, but unfortunately, he shuffled during the initial sprint and fell on the first jump.

Li had been suffering from a chronic ankle injury and had an operation in 2005. He rested for that whole year, refraining from participating in any competitions.

In 2006, he made a successful comeback by winning gold in parallel bars at the São Paulo World Cup Series Final. By then, he had tied with his idol, China's gymnastic legend Li Ning, by winning a record of 14 world titles.

In 2008, after suffering from a toe injury, he came back and won titles for parallel bars at the two gymnastics World Cups, Cottbus and Tianjin.

After winning two gold medals for men's team and parallel bars at the Beijing Olympics, he surpassed Li Ning by holding 16 world titles, more than any other gymnast in China. He retired in late 2009.

Personal life He first met his wife, Li "Angel" Anqi, at the 2003 World Championship in Anaheim, California. Her father, Li Xiaoping, served as a host and interpreter for the Chinese team. and married in Los Angeles on June 5, 2010. The couple held a second marriage ceremony in Beijing on July 11, 2010. On January 12, 2012, they had their first child, Olivia (Li Xinqi). His second child, a son named Max, was born in June 2016.

Eponymous skills Li has two named elements in the code of points. A vault, first performed in 2001, was given a 5.4 difficulty. A parallel bars skill, first added to the code of points in 2003, was named for Li in 2013. The parallel bars skill was originally given an SE difficulty, but was moved to an F difficulty in 2006 and most recently was moved to a G difficulty in 2025.

+Gymnastics elements named after Li Xiaopeng Apparatus Name Description Difficulty Added to Code of Points Vault Li Xiao Peng "Round off, ½ t. and hdspr. fwd. and salto fwd. str. with 5/2 t."5.42001 Parallel bars Li Xiaopeng "Roll bwd. with salto bwd. pike to upper arm hang"G (0.7)2003

Competitive highlights

Year Competition description Location Apparatus Rank-final Score-final Rank-qualifying Score-qualifying 1997 World Championships Lausanne Team 1 226.117 Parallel bars 2 9.737 Floor exercise 3 9.537 1998 World Cup/Series Final Sabae Parallel bars 1 9.750 Floor exercise 1 9.425 1999 World Championships Tianjin Team 1 230.395 1 230.546 Vault 1 9.668 Parallel bars 6 9.137 2000 Olympic Games Sydney Team 1 231.919 Parallel bars 1 9.825 3 9.762 Floor exercise 5 9.737 2 9.725 2002 World Cup/Series Final Stuttgart Parallel bars 1 9.837 World Championships Debrecen Vault 1 9.818 1 9.718 Parallel bars 1 9.812 1 9.587 2003 World Championships Anaheim Team 1 171.996 3 225.119 Vault 1 9.818 Parallel bars 1 9.825 Horizontal bar 5 9.662 2004 World Cup/Series Final Birmingham Parallel bars 4 9.712 Olympic Games Athens Team 5 171.257 4 229.507 All around 84 28.699 Vault 7 9.368 2 9.800 Parallel bars 3 9.762 2 9.787 Rings 61 9.112 2005 World Championships Melbourne All around 86 19.137 Vault 13 9.437 Parallel bars 2 9.675 5 9.662 2006 World Cup/Series Final São Paulo Parallel bars 1 16.450 World Cup/Series Stuttgart Parallel bars 1 16.300 1 16.350 2008 World Cup/Series Tianjin Parallel bars 1 16.775 Horizontal bar 2 16.200 Cottobus Parallel bars 1 16.250 1 16.500 Horizontal bar 3 15.975 2 15.925 Olympic Games Beijing Team 1 286.125 1 374.675 All around 45 78.500 Parallel bars 1 16.450 1 16.425 Horizontal bar 10 15.400 Vault DNQ DNQ - 16.775 (one vault only) Floor exercise 28 15.100 Rings 42 14.800