Kui Yuanyuan! Issue 1 February 1997 Monthly Online Newsletter
Welcome to the very first issue of Kui Yuanyuan! This online publication, despite it’s name, is dedicated to all of the Chinese women’s team, but it is mainly for Kui. This first issue will give you insight into exactly who Kui Yuanyuan is. Although China may not be your favorite team, there is always a little something for any enthusiastic gymnastics fan. This and all of the other issues will contain sections such as Spotlight, Profile, Trivia, Q’s & A’s, Your Words, Websites, Competitions/Results, Feedback, Stuff, and Your Free Pic*. So sit back, relax, and read through this edition of Kui Yuanyuan! *From now on, Your Free Pic. will be a separate e-mail.
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Obtained from Lisa's Gymnastics Archive: ASCII Art, retrieved from Gymn Forum
SPOTLIGHT
1996 Chunichi Cup Nagoya, Japan December 14-15, 1996
Kui Yuanyuan and Mao Yanling, representing China, traveled eastward to the island country of Japan, for the annual meet: The Chunichi Cup. There they competed against top names, such as Svetlana Khorkina and Gina Gogean. In the all-around competition, they were not very successful, Mao placing 8th (37.925 total) and Kui finishing 7th (38.2 AA total), ahead of her teammate. Gina Gogean took home the all around gold, with solid performances on every event, Svetlana Khorkina ending up second, and Romanian newcomer Mirela Tugurlan, an impressive third. Interestingly enough, Gogean's 39.225 was the same all-around total for Lilia Podkopayeva at the Olympic Games. But, the contingent from Beijing fought back in event finals. Kui finished a good fourth place on vault, an upsetting seventh on floor (8.875), but took home top honors on beam with a 9.9 (highest score of the competition for women), largely because of her amazing combination: power back handspring, power back handspring, layout full twist. Mao did not win any medals this competition due to inconsistent performances on both bars and beam.
Nevertheless, the two young athletes represented their country, and did it well at the 1996 Chunichi Cup.
To go to GYMN Forum’s complete results, click here: 1996 Chunichi Cup Results.
PROFILE
Exactly who is Kui Yuanyuan?
Here are some quick facts:
Biographical Information
Athlete name: KUI Yuanyuan Country: People's Republic of China City of Birth: Beijing Date of Birth: 1981-06-23 (15 yrs. old) Gender: Female Sport: Gymnastics - Artistic Height(cm): +133.0 (+52 in.) Weight(kg): +028.00 (+61 lbs.) Club Name: Personal Coach: LU Shanzhen
Kui Yuanyuan is an exciting newcomer from the Chinese women's gymnastics team. She is not an all-arounder, but she has incredible routines, in fact, some of the most difficult routines on the entire team. She performs two power back handsprings to a layout full on beam, and pushes out five passes on floor excercise, which includes a double layout, whips into a double twist, and lots of front tumbling. It was her tumbling and great dance on floor excercise that earned her the title World Champion on floor in San Juan, Puerto Rico (To go to Sherwin Ho's site for results and a report of the 96 W.G.C.'s, click here: Sherwin's Artistic Gymnastics Home Page.). Yuanyuan accomplished something that many gymnasts only dream about: making it to the Olympic Games. In Atlanta, she won optional beam with a 9.875, but was unable to advance to finals due to a fall earlier in compulsories (shoulder roll). More recently, at the Chunichi Cup in Nagoya, Japan, she captured the title on beam (9.900, highest score in the competition for women), with the most difficult routine in the final, and in women's gymnastics today as well (To go to GYMN Forum’s results page, click here: 1996 Chunichi Cup Results). With a bright future, she heads to Lausanne, Switzerland, the site of the 1997 World Championships, to compete for team and individual event titles.
Kui's favorite events: balance beam and floor excercise Kui's least favorite event: uneven parallel bars
Major RESULTS: 1996 Individual Events World Championships: 1st FX 1996 Olympic Games: 4th Team 1996 Chunichi Cup: 7th AA, 4th VT, 1st BB, 7th FX
Send your fan mail to: Association of Gymnastics of the Republic People China Tiyukuan Street 9, Beijing, China
The "Biographical Information" section was retrieved from the IBM Olympic site. TRIVIA
Q1: What events did Kui Yuanyuan compete for the Chinese team in Atlanta?
Q2: What rotations (first apparatus) were Mao Yanling and Qiao Ya in during the all-around competition at the Olympic Games?
Q3: What is the name of the album on which Bi Wenjing’s floor excercise music is on? What is the name of the artist?
Send me your answers to
Q's & A's
If you have any questions or comments regarding the newsletter, Kui Yuanyuan, or anyone on the Chinese team, please feel free to e-mail me,
YOUR WORDS
In this section, readers can express their opinions and ideas regarding to women's gymnastics. This can be used for current controversial issues in the sport, and a way to get your ideas and views known to the online gymnastics community. To send me an idea, topic, or response, e-mail me at
Issues: Should judges be able to downgrade the value of a skill or lower the score of a routine because it is, or contains a skill that is, very dangerous (example: Liu Xian and her one-armed Geinger, '96 Worlds)?
Opinions: What do you think is the best uneven bars release? Tell us why.
Anything you want to say here?
WEBSITES/FORUMS
Here are some websites connected to the Chinese team and gymnastics:
Mo Huilan (http://herb.biol.uregina.ca/pub/fhy/Olympic/o251.html) A great site with lots of original pictures of Mo.
Chinastar - Mo Huilan - Main Page (http://www.shanghai.iserv.net/shanghai/galleria/CT009.html) Another site for Lan-Lan with tons of info, poems, links, and pictures.
Team China - Gymnastics (http://www.chinaolympics.com/team/gymnast.htm) A site with great interesting facts about many members of the 1996 Chinese Olympic team. Great portraits, and two avi's of Mo and Li Xiaoshuang
Gymn Forum: The Gymn Forum! (http://gymn.digiweb.com/gymn/) An excellent page with results, photos, and lots of links.
Gymphoto Homepage (http://www2.meshnet.or.jp/~gymphoto/) A huge site with lots of photos, especially…you guessed it…Kui! Also, you can order or trade pics., videos, and leotards! When you’re there, go to the Chunichi Cup page: Mao Yanling & Kui Yuanyuan.
The BIGGEST Gymnastic links page on the net (http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/7023/links.html) Millions of links of every kind relating to gymnastics.
Grandstand Gymnastics Forum (go to keyword:gymnastics) An excellent non-web forum with message boards, photos, a chat room, and a weekly newsletter.
Gymnastics International Gymnastics (go to International: Sports: Gymnastics) A good non-web forum with messsage boards, chats, and lots of links.
COMPETITIONS/RESULTS
Upcoming Competitions 1997 Visa American Cup - Feb. 27-Mar. 2, 1997 - Men and women gymnasts from around the world will be competing in this world-class competition, this year to be held at Forth Worth, TX, USA. Exciting enough, this will be the first televised meet using the new code of points. Ji Liya, a competitor at the 1995 American Cup (12th AA-Preliminaries), will be the only female representative from China in this competition. This meet will be aired live, Mar. 1, on NBC, 4:00 EST. For more info., click on the name (USA Gymnastics Online).
1997 International Team Championships - Mar. 21-22, 1997 - The Chinese men's and women's, senior and junior teams will be traveling to Cincinatti for a tri-meet with the U.S. and Romania. China will be sending its best, hopefully including Kui Yuanyuan, to this actual podium style meet, and will battle the best women's teams in the world! Good luck! For a link to this site (in USA Gymnastics Online), click on the name. Tune to NBC on Apr. 12 (men) and Apr. 19 (women) at 1:00 - 3:00 EST for taped coverage of these championships.
Results
1996 Pacific Alliance Championships - Nov. 12-17, 1996 - Kuantan, Malaysia. Meng Fei, Zhuo Duan, and Jing Ying (for women) competed here, and each took home at least one medal in this competition. Click on the name for full results (GYMN Forum’s Results).
1996 Chunichi Cup - Dec. 14-15, 1996 - Nagoya, Japan. Kui and Mao competed here, and one gold medal was brought home to China. Click on the name for full results (GYMN Forum’s Results).
FEEDBACK
To send feedback, comments, or suggestions, just e-mail me
STUFF
Quote of the Month: "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain" - Dolly Parton
Tips: 1. Try making your internet start page blank, that way you can get onto the web faster, and not waste time. 2. Use your "Favorite Places" folder! It is very useful in getting the places you use frequently faster. Just double-click the heart icon on the top right corner of the window of a favorite place, such as a website or forum, and it will add it to your favorite places. To view your favorite places, click the folder with the heart icon at the top of your AOL screen, and viola!, there they are. Double click the icon to connect to the place you want to. 3. VIRUS! There has been a recent "Good Times" virus that has spread through internet e-mail. If you get mail that reads "Good Times," erase it immediately. Do not read it. Do not download the file!
Get a friend to subscribe to Kui Yuanyuan! Tell your friends about Kui Yuanyuan! Just tell them to try it, and if they do not like it, no harm done! I will simply unsubscribe them if they please. So, tell them to very easily send
Other Newsletters
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The Road to Sydney A brand new interactive gymnastics newsletter following the best gymnasts from the U.S.A. and the world on their Road to Sydney! Get the latest on all your favorites, including profiles, competitions, and results. This newsletter promises to be different from any you've seen before. Join today! E-mail
Also, try going to Grandstand Gymnastics Forum: Message Boards: The Trading Post.
Contest!
Who do you think will be representing China (for women) at the International Team Championships? Send me e-mail
From the Editor: Dear Readers,
I am glad that you have taken your time to read this newsletter dedicated to an amazing gymnast, Kui Yuanyuan, and her team, Team China. Remember to e-mail me for suggestions, comments, or feedback. Don't forget to respond to different sections in the newsletter! Thank you again! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
MC