Liu Xuan (gymnast)

Liu Xuan (born August 12, 1979) is a former Chinese artistic gymnast. She competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games and won two Olympic medals, including gold on the balance beam in 2000. She was born in Changsha, Hunan.

Gymnastics career
Liu was coached by Guo Xinming and Zhang Zhen. She took up gymnastics with encouragement from her mother, who had to stop training when her gym closed during the Cultural Revolution. In fact, Liu's decision to continue training for another four years after a disappointing performance at the 1996 Olympics (where she failed to make the beam final because of a fall in the team competition) was partly to realize her mother's unfulfilled dream.

In 2000, Liu became China's first Olympic champion on balance beam, as well as its first all-around medalist in women's gymnastics. She also led the Chinese team to a third-place finish, but in 2010, their bronze medal was stripped by the International Olympic Committee and awarded to the United States instead after one of the Chinese team members, Dong Fangxiao, was found to have been underage during the competition. In March 2012, the bronze medal Liu and her teammates won at the 1999 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was forfeited to Ukraine for the same reason.

Eponymous skill
Liu was the first female gymnast to perform a one-arm giant swing on the uneven bars; she also performed this skill into a Geinger release move. The skill is named after her in the Code of Points, but because it was considered too risky for women, it was given a low difficulty rating to discourage gymnasts from attempting it. As a result, Liu stopped performing it after the 1996 Olympics.

Post-gymnastics career
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Liu served as the on-site gymnastics reporter for Hong Kong broadcaster TVB.

In July 2009, she became a contracted actress for TVB.

Personal life
Liu married her boyfriend, musician Wang Tao, in Happy Valley, Hong Kong in December 2013. The couple have two children.

Results

 * 2000 Olympics: 3rd team (disqualified), 3rd all-around, 1st balance beam
 * 1998 Asian Games: 1st team, 1st all-around, 1st beam
 * 1998 World Cup: 1st beam, 3rd bars
 * 1997 World Championships: 3rd team, 7th all-around
 * 1996 Olympics: 4th team
 * 1996 World Championships: 3rd beam, 9th bars
 * 1995 World Championships: 2nd team
 * 1995 USA/CHN/BLR: 3rd team, 8th all-around
 * 1994 DTB Cup: 1st beam, 5th bars, 8th floor
 * 1994 Asian Games: 1st team, 2nd bars
 * 1994 World Championships: 4th team