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Jan
23
Written by:
Andy Thornton
Saturday, January 23, 2010 12:14 PM
Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)…
Usually we’ve at least heard of a gymnast before he or she bursts onto the world scene on a powerhouse team like Russia or China. And in this day and age, we can just about always go back in retrospect and find videos of such a gymnast before he or she made that first world or Olympic team. We can usually find videos of him or her as a junior gymnast or at least of some competitions before the gymnast became fully ready to represent one of the best teams in the world on the actual world stage. Not so with Yang Yun or Dong Fangxiao.
Dong Fangxiao was a member of the 1999 world championship team that edged Ukraine by less than 0.1 to win the bronze medal in their home country (Tianjin, China). In fact, this team was less than one point away from the gold-medal winning Romanian team. All members of the Chinese team that showed up in Tianjin were known at that time, except for one.
· Liu Xiuan, the team leader, was a veteran of four world championships and the 1996 Olympic Games.
Ling Jie had been turning heads for her phenomenal abilities on bars and beam since 1997.
Huang Mandan had showcased one of the best bar routines in the world at the 1998 Pacific Alliance Championships.
Xu Jing had established herself as China’s most powerful tumbler and vaulter at the 1998 Asian Games.
Bai Chunyue had been predicted by most to make the team after her incredible coming out party at the International Team Championships earlier that year.
And then there was Dong Fangxiao.
This surprising fresh face was not only completely unknown…she was the best gymnast on the team.
Dong shocked many by leading her team to the bronze medal, finishing 5th overall in the preliminaries and scoring over a 9.7 on both beam and floor to qualify for the event finals on each. She ended up an impressive 6th place in the all-around finals and placed 7th on beam and 4th on floor.
Here’s a look at her routines from that competition:
Dong Fangxiao Beam 1999 Worlds
Dong Fangxiao Floor 1999 Worlds
Dong Fangxiao Bars 1999 Worlds
Dong Fangxiao Vault 1999 Worlds
What an impressive gymnast she was. As long as she remained healthy, she would undoubtedly be one of the gymnasts representing China at the 2000 Olympic Games, where she was sure to contend for medals on at least beam, bars, and in the all-around.
Sure enough, Dong made the 2000 Olympic Team, and although her team did win the bronze medal, her dreams of individual Olympic glory weren’t meant to be. She qualified for the all-around final in 9th place – behind her unknown teammate Yang Yun in 6th – and this time made the finals on vault and floor. A disastrous performance in the all-around left Dong in a dismal 25th place, and lackluster performances in the finals landed her in 7th on vault and 6th on floor.
Dong Fangxiao Beam 2000 Olympics All-Around Finals
Dong Fangxiao Vault 2000 Olympics Event Finals
Dong competed for one more year, and showed up at the 2001 East Asian Games looking better than ever:
Dong Fangxiao Beam 2001 East Asian Games
Dong Fangxiao Floor 2001 East Asian Games
What an incredible full twist on beam! And aside from just a double full dismount on floor, her tumbling and dance skills were clearly among the best in the world. Unfortunately, Dong left the international scene as mysteriously as she came. She was never seen in major competition again.
It wasn’t until seven years later that rumors began to circulate about this former star’s real age….which brings us back to the original question of this post: Where in the world did she come from?
Next we’ll take a look at a curiously similar story involving the other gymnast in the midst of the age falsification controversy….2000 Olympian Yang Yun.
Tags:
Re: Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)...
Dong retired due to a genectic hip condition (or something like that). She didn't vanish, it was well known.
By gem on
Saturday, January 23, 2010 11:01 PM
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Re: Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)...
That's correct. Dong Fangxiao retired due to necrosis of the femur head. Her story is well-known in the gymnastics world. Dont'try to create a mystery where none exists.
By GetReal on
Sunday, January 24, 2010 8:05 PM
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Re: Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)...
The mystery I was mostly referring to was Dong's ARRIVAL onto the international scene rather than her departure....although after both of you mentioned the hip problem I do remember it now. My main objective in these posts was to point out how ironic it was that the two gymnasts suspected of age falsification both literally came out of nowhere to make China's World/Olympic teams. We've almost ALWAYS at least heard of the gymnasts that show up on China's major teams, but that wasn't the case with Dong and Yang. And not only were they on the team, they were the best all-around gymnasts on the team (Dong in 1999 and Yang in 2000). It makes the whole age controversy a whole lot more suspicious to me when you consider there aren't any videos of them whatsoever from prior to these world competitions (except one 2 months before Sydney where Yang did compete). It makes it seem more plausible that they were really in the junior ranks and were bumped up with the seniors when the coaches realized they were good enough.
Thanks for reminding me about the hip necrosis, although I think you must have missed the point of the post.
By Andy T on
Sunday, January 24, 2010 10:31 PM
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Re: Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)...
I got the point of your post. I was just trying to help with facts.
By Gem on
Monday, January 25, 2010 1:13 AM
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Re: Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)...
Dong was officially born in 83. 99 was the year she turned senior. It's not surprising that she is new to the scene. Back then junior competitions were scarce. Just because Huang Mandan competed in one meet in the states doesn't mean she was the only successful junior on the national team. In fact Huang and Dong were the two gymnasts mentioned a lot in Chinese press during that era. I know because I was there. They were in the same coaching group as well.
People say the same thing about Cheng Fei in 2004, but not Courtney McCool, who also came out of nowhere in 2004. Truth is when you have a group of girls training together, there will always be girls who just all of a sudden improve a lot. It happens.
By jeez on
Monday, February 01, 2010 2:34 AM
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Re: Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)...
Jeez: Thanks for the info on Dong, although I can't say I'm convinced of that birthdate! I guess we will soon see, hopefully. As for Cheng Fei, I agree she did similarly come out of nowhere at the time, but one difference is that we can at least find some prior video footage of her now from 2003 and early 2004 - at least suggesting she existed! As for Courtney McCool, she competed in numerous international competitions at the end of 2003 and in 2004, including the Pre-Olympic Test Event and the American Cup, where she placed second with a phenomenal performance. Although she did arise rather quickly, many of us witnessed that rise and saw that she was peaking at precisely the right time for that Athens team. It was clear she was rapidly becoming one of Marta's favorites, and for good reason. After the American Cup in particular it began to appear quite likely she would end up on that team.
By Andy T on
Monday, February 01, 2010 8:17 PM
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Re: Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun dropped out of the sky (Part 1)...
Andy T's point has now been validated by the IOC.
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She knew her age, but she was forced by her country. It's not like she begged at the Chinese officals to compete. She hated gymnastics
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