Li Xiaopeng repeats Olympic glory after bumpy journey

BEIJING-- History repeated. Victories came again.

As the last one to compete on parallel bars, China's ace gymnast Li Xiaopeng did not let nerves catch him, but distinguished himself with next-to-perfect execution and wrapped up his routine with a solid landing.

The multiple world champion garnered 16.450 points, a sizable margin of 0.200 ahead of the silver medalist Yoo Won-chul from South Korea. Witnessing Li's crowning triumph, spectators soaked the parallel bars king with ovation and applause.

The glorious scene of the 2000 Sydney Olympics just emerged again at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday.

It was the eighth Olympic title claimed by the Chinese gymnastic team in Beijing. After this, Li accumulated four Olympic golds, becoming one of the Chinese athletes who collected the most Olympic titles.

For Li, it was also a repetition of his feat in Sydney eight years ago: a team gold and a parallel bar gold.

"It took me four years, or even longer, to train for this medal. Coach Chen (Chen Xiong) cried when I gave him a hug, because we devoted so much effort and time. The gold medal deserves our pride," said Li after the final.

"The gold is heavy. I will value it as many people have made efforts for the achievement."

The journey to the Olympic podium was not an easy circle but an eight-year long march full of pains and tears.

Li was China's leading gymnast of a new generation after Li Ning and Li Xiaoshuang at the Sydney Olympics. The then 19-year-old boy defeated Russian ace Alexei Nemov and gained the title in parallel bars. His impressive performance helped China power to top spot in the team final as well.

After the Sydney Olympics, Li won not only the love of Chinese gymnastic fans but also the title of "China's new gymnastic prince". He continued to shine in the 2003 World Championships by claiming titles in team, vault and parallel bars finals.

Out of expectation, greeting the prince in the 2004 Athens Olympics were not laurels but heartbreaking memories. Due to severe foot injury, Li lost all the titles there and captured only a bronze on parallel bars. He had to stay away from gymnastics arena for more than one year after the Athens Olympics, receiving a foot operation.

The blow did not defeat Li but make him more mentally strong.

His perseverance paid back. Last year, Li made a successful return to the peak form at the World Cup Series, winning golds in parallel bars twice, one on home soil and the other in Germany.

With only a bit more than one year left before the Beijing Olympics, it was too hard for Li to develop a new second vault in accordance with the new rule. He gave up his chance to compete on vault, but contributed to China's gold glory in the team final at the Beijing Olympics. On Tuesday, Li outclassed the field again with a brilliant performance on parallel bars.

Li said after the triumph, "The gymnastics experience for years let me know: After stumbling, you must stand up and move forward. "

Source: Xinhua