Name: Xiao Qin
Sport: Gymnastics
Birthday: January 12, 1985
Home: Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province
Height: 1.64 meters
Weight: 55 kg
Experience:
1995: Joined army's Bayi gymnastics team
1999: Selected for the national gymnastics team
Major Achievements:
2001 World Gymnastics Championship: runner-up, pommel horse
2001 Five Continent Young Men's Invitational, France: champion, pommel horse; runner-up, all-around and free exercise
2002 National Gymnastics Championships: runner-up, pommel horse
2002 World Gymnastics Championships: runner-up, pommel horse
2003 World Gymnastics Championships: male team title
2005 World Gymnastics Championships: champion, pommel horse
2006 World Gymnastics Championships: champion, pommel horse; team title
Xiao Qin is one of the world's best at the pommel horse. Unfortunately, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, he fell during his routine and missed out on a medal. The fall also prevented his team from getting a medal in the team competition.
After the Olympics, Xiao and his teammates practiced harder than before. This paid off when Xiao won the pommel horse at the 2005 World Championships, and again at the 2006 World Championships. In 2006, he and his teammates also won gold in the team competition.
Xiao is a quiet man who seldom speaks with people he does not know. He is now a key figure with the national gymnastics team and experience has taught him to maintain his composure. He will try for gold at the Beijing Olympics by performing a difficult routine.
(China.org.cn June 24, 2008)