Zou Jingyuan
| Zou Jingyuan | |
|---|---|
Zou at the 2024 Olympic Games | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 3 January 1998 Yibin, Sichuan, China |
| Height | 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in) |
| Gymnastics career | |
| Country represented | China |
| Club | Sichuan Province |
| Head coach(es) | Wang Hongwei, Teng Haibin |
| Eponymous skills | Zou (rings): From inverted cross lower slowly to inverted hang and felge backward slowly to V cross (2 seconds) |
Medal record | |
Zou Jingyuan (Chinese: 邹敬园; pinyin: Zōu Jìngyuán, born 3 January 1998) is a Chinese artistic gymnast who specializes in parallel bars and rings. He is a two-time Olympic champion on parallel bars, winning gold at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. He is a four-time world champion on parallel bars, winning in 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2025.[1] He was a member of the Chinese team that won silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics, bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, gold at the 2018 and 2022 World Championships, and bronze at the 2019 World Championships. He was the silver medalist on rings at the 2024 Olympics and 2022 World Championships. Zou is widely considered the best parallel bars competitor in the world.
Personal life
Zou was born 3 January 1998 in Yibin, Sichuan, China. He started gymnastics at the age of three when he was scouted by a coach because of his good physical condition.[2]
The General Administration of Sport of China named Zou an Elite Athlete of National Class in 2016.[2]
Zou studied physical education at Chengdu Sport University.[2]
Career
2017–2021
Zou competed at the 2017 Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, where he helped China win team gold.[2] Individually he won gold on parallel bars and rings, as well as silver on pommel horse.[2] Later that year Zou competed at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, where he won gold on parallel bars, earning his first World title.[2]
At the 2018 Asian Games Zou helped China win team gold.[2] Individually he placed first on parallel bars and second on pommel horse.[2] At the 2018 World Championships he helped China win team gold ahead of Russia and defended his title on the parallel bars.[2]
In 2019, Zou competed at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, where he helped China win team silver.[2] He failed to qualify for the parallel bars event final after an error in qualifying and was therefore unable to defend his title.[3][4] He did qualify to the pommel horse final where he ultimately finished fourth.[2]
Zou was named to the team to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo alongside including Sun Wei, Xiao Ruoteng, and Lin Chaopan.[5] During the team final they won bronze with a combined score of 262.397, 0.606 points behind the winning Russian Olympic Committee team.[6] Zou won Olympic gold on parallel bars with a score of 16.233,[7] the highest score and widest margin of victory (0.533) posted by any gymnast in any event at the Tokyo Olympics.[8][9]
2022–2024
Zou competed at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool. During the qualification round he successfully competed a new skill on rings.[10] During the team final he helped China win gold.[11] During event finals he won silver on rings behind Adem Asil[12] and gold on parallel bars. His score in the parallel bars final of 16.166 was the highest score posted by a gymnast at the competition.[13]
In the summer of 2023 Zou competed at the postponed 2021 World University Games where he helped China win team gold. Individually he won gold on parallel bars, silver on rings, and placed fourth on pommel horse.[14] In the fall, the Chinese-hosted postponed 2022 Asian Games were scheduled to take place around the same time as the 2023 World Championships. Due to this, the Chinese Gymnastics Federation opted to send their best athletes to the Asian Games; as a result Zou was unable to defend his World title. At the Asian Games Zou helped China win team gold and individually he won gold on parallel bars.[15]
Zou was selected to represent China at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Liu Yang, Su Weide, Xiao Ruoteng, and Zhang Boheng.[16] During the qualification round China qualified to the team final in first, 2.434 points ahead of their rivals Japan;[17] as a result they were expected to win the gold medal. During the team final China went into the final rotation with a 3.267 point lead; however after Zou's teammate Su fell twice, Japan was able to capitalize on the mistakes leaving China with the silver medal.[18] During the individual event finals Zou won silver on rings behind compatriot Liu and successfully defended his Olympic title on the parallel bars.[19][20]
Competitive history
| Year | Event | Team | AA | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Pacific Rim Championships | 4 | |||||||
| 2016 | Pacific Rim Championships | 5 | |||||||
| Chinese Championships | |||||||||
| 2017 | Melbourne World Cup | ||||||||
| Doha World Cup | 7 | ||||||||
| Asian Championships | |||||||||
| World Championships | N/a | ||||||||
| 2018 | Doha World Cup | ||||||||
| Chinese Championships | 11 | ||||||||
| Asian Games | |||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||
| 2019 | Doha World Cup | 7 | |||||||
| Chinese Championships | 6 | ||||||||
| Zhaoqing World Challenge Cup | |||||||||
| World Championships | 4 | ||||||||
| 2020 | Chinese Championships | ||||||||
| 2021 | Chinese Championships | 8 | 5 | ||||||
| Olympic Trials | |||||||||
| Olympic Games | |||||||||
| Chinese National Games | 9 | 6 | |||||||
| 2022 | Chinese Championships | ||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||
| 2023 | Chinese Championships | 5 | 4 | ||||||
| World University Games | 6 | ||||||||
| Asian Games | 6 | ||||||||
| 2024 | Baku World Cup | ||||||||
| Chinese Championships | 6 | ||||||||
| Olympic Games | |||||||||
| 2025 | Chinese Championships | 8 | |||||||
| World Championships |
References
- ^ "China's Zou Jingyuan wins parallel bars title at Artistic Gymnastics World Championships". People’s Daily Online. 25 October 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Artistic Gymnastics ZOU Jingyuan". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "A bluffer's guide to artistic gymnastics: Parallel bars". Olympics.com. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ Ivanov, Christian (November 2019). "Champs At Last". International Gymnast. 61 (9). Paul Ziert & Associates, Inc.: 29.
- ^ "Artistic Gymnastics - Team China". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Artistic Gymnastics - Final Results". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Artistic Gymnastics - Final Results". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "China's Zou Jingyuan wins parallel bars, Japan's Daiki Hashimoto horizontal bars in Olympic men's gymnastics". ESPN. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ Crumlish, John (29 August 2021). "China's Zou: "I don't know why I still got the gold"". International Gymnast Online. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ ZOU - 2022 World Championships in Liverpool (GBR) - MAG new SR Element. FIG. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Men's Team Standings: Final". FIG. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "Men's Rings Final - Results". FIG. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "Men's Parallel Bars Final - Results". FIG. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "2021 Summer Universiade Men's Results". The Gymternet. 6 August 2023.
- ^ "2022 Asian Games Men's Results". The Gymternet. 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Team China announces five member team for Paris Olympics". Neutral Deductions. 17 June 2024.
- ^ "Gymnastics: People's Republic of China soars past Japan in men's qualifying at Paris 2024; three teams vying for bronze". International Olympic Committee. 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Japan captures Paris 2024 men's team gold medal in improbable comeback - Team USA clinches bronze". International Olympic Committee. 29 July 2024.
- ^ "China win long-awaited gold with Liu Yang retaining rings title". Reuters. 4 August 2024.
- ^ "China's Zou Jingyuan goes back-to-back on parallel bars at the Games". NBC. 5 August 2024.