Zou Jingyuan

Zou Jingyuan (, born 3 January 1998) is a Chinese artistic gymnast who specializes in parallel bars and rings. He is a two-time Olympic champion on parallel bars, winning gold at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. He is a four-time world champion on parallel bars, winning in 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2025. He was a member of the Chinese team that won silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics, bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, gold at the 2018 and 2022 World Championships, and bronze at the 2019 World Championships. He was the silver medalist on rings at the 2024 Olympics and the 2022 World Championships. Zou is widely considered the best parallel bars competitor in the world.

Early life and education Zou was born on 3 January 1998 in Yibin, Sichuan, China. He started gymnastics at the age of three when he was scouted by a coach because of his good physical condition.

The General Administration of Sport of China named Zou an Elite Athlete of National Class in 2016. He did qualify to the pommel horse final where he ultimately finished fourth. During the team final they won bronze with a combined score of 262.397, 0.606 points behind the winning Russian Olympic Committee team. Zou won Olympic gold on parallel bars with a score of 16.233, the highest score and widest margin of victory (0.533) posted by any gymnast in any event at the Tokyo Olympics.

2022–2024 Zou competed at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool. During the qualification round, he successfully competed a new skill on rings. During the team final, he helped China win gold. During event finals he won silver on rings behind Adem Asil and gold on parallel bars. His score in the parallel bars final of 16.166 was the highest score posted by a gymnast at the competition.

In the summer of 2023, Zou competed at the postponed 2021 World University Games where he helped China win team gold. Individually, he won gold on parallel bars, silver on rings, and placed fourth on pommel horse. In the fall, the Chinese-hosted postponed 2022 Asian Games were scheduled to take place around the same time as the 2023 World Championships. Due to this, the Chinese Gymnastics Federation opted to send their best athletes to the Asian Games; as a result, Zou was unable to defend his World title. At the Asian Games, Zou helped China win team gold, and individually he won gold on parallel bars.

Zou was selected to represent China at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Liu Yang, Su Weide, Xiao Ruoteng, and Zhang Boheng. During the qualification round China qualified to the team final in first, 2.434 points ahead of their rivals Japan; as a result they were expected to win the gold medal. During the team final, China went into the final rotation with a 3.267 point lead; however, after Zou's teammate Su fell twice, Japan was able to capitalize on the mistakes, leaving China with the silver medal. During the individual event finals Zou won silver on rings behind compatriot Liu and successfully defended his Olympic title on the parallel bars.

Competitive history

+Competitive history of Zou JingyuanYearEvent 2014 Pacific Rim Championships 4 2016 Pacific Rim Championships 5 Chinese Championships 2017 Melbourne World Cup Doha World Cup 7 Asian Championships World Championships 2018 Doha World Cup Chinese Championships 11 Asian Games World Championships 2019 Doha World Cup 7 Chinese Championships 6 Zhaoqing World Challenge Cup World Championships 4 2020 Chinese Championships 2021 Chinese Championships 8 5 Olympic Trials Olympic Games Chinese National Games 9 6 2022 Chinese Championships World Championships 2023 Chinese Championships 5 4 World University Games 6 Asian Games 6 2024 Baku World Cup Chinese Championships 6 Olympic Games 2025 Chinese Championships 8 World Championships