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Li Ning (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 careerEdit
Li Níng 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 Níng 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 Níng won 11 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships medals, including gold medals in the rings (1985) and team all-around (1983).<ref name=sr />
Li Níng 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-gymnasticsEdit
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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Li was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2000, becoming the first Chinese inductee.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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 Ning 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 lifeEdit
Li is married to Chen Yongyan, a fellow gymnast who won an Olympic bronze in 1984.<ref name=sr />
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:Sports links
- 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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