Li Donghua (born 10 December 1967) is a gymnast who represented his adopted country of Switzerland at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he won the gold medal on the pommel horse.
Li Donghua 李东华
Donghua Li in 2013
Personal information
Full name
Li Donghua
Country represented
Switzerland
Former countries represented
China
Born
(1967-12-10) December 10, 1967 (age 56) Chengdu, China
Li began his gymnastics career competing for China, and won a national title on the pommel horse in 1987. However, a neck injury prevented him from making the Chinese team for the 1988 Olympics.
While recovering from his injury, Li met Esperanza Friedli, a Swiss national who was backpacking in China. When he told his coaches he was to marry her, they told him to cut off the relationship or he would not be able to compete. He refused, and the couple left China for Lucerne.[1]
Li went on to win the Swiss national title on pommel horse from 1989 to 1992, and the all-around national title in 1993. However, because he was not a Swiss national during that time, those results were not official. In 1994, he became a Swiss citizen and began competing for the country internationally.
At the 1994 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship, Li won a bronze medal on pommel horse. The next year, he won gold on the same event. In 1996, at the age of 28, he won both the European and Olympic pommel horse titles. Li was the first Olympic medalist for Switzerland in gymnastics since 1952.
Personal lifeedit
Li and Friedli were married in 1988 and divorced in 2004.[2] Li later married Qiang Huang.[3] He has two children.
Referencesedit
^Clarey, C. "Love Conquers All, Eventually". New York Times, April 14, 1996.
^Pan, Wang (2014-11-13). Love and Marriage in Globalizing China. Routledge. ISBN9781317688846.
^Häfliger, Von André. "Donghua Li und seine Qian: Das Baby ist da! - Blick". www.blick.ch. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Donghua Li.
donghua, this, chinese, name, family, name, born, december, 1967, gymnast, represented, adopted, country, switzerland, 1996, summer, olympics, atlanta, where, gold, medal, pommel, horse, 李东华donghua, 2013personal, informationfull, namecountry, representedswitze. In this Chinese name the family name is Li 李 Li Donghua born 10 December 1967 is a gymnast who represented his adopted country of Switzerland at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where he won the gold medal on the pommel horse Li Donghua李东华Donghua Li in 2013Personal informationFull nameLi DonghuaCountry representedSwitzerlandFormer countries representedChinaBorn 1967 12 10 December 10 1967 age 56 Chengdu ChinaDisciplineMen s artistic gymnasticsMedal record Representing SwitzerlandOlympic Games1996 Atlanta Pommel HorseWorld Championships1995 Sabae Pommel Horse1996 San Juan Pommel Horse1994 Brisbane Pommel HorseEuropean Championships1996 Copenhagen Pommel HorseLi DonghuaSimplified Chinese李东华Traditional Chinese李東華TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinLǐ Dōnghua Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 References 4 External linksCareer editLi began his gymnastics career competing for China and won a national title on the pommel horse in 1987 However a neck injury prevented him from making the Chinese team for the 1988 Olympics While recovering from his injury Li met Esperanza Friedli a Swiss national who was backpacking in China When he told his coaches he was to marry her they told him to cut off the relationship or he would not be able to compete He refused and the couple left China for Lucerne 1 Li went on to win the Swiss national title on pommel horse from 1989 to 1992 and the all around national title in 1993 However because he was not a Swiss national during that time those results were not official In 1994 he became a Swiss citizen and began competing for the country internationally At the 1994 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship Li won a bronze medal on pommel horse The next year he won gold on the same event In 1996 at the age of 28 he won both the European and Olympic pommel horse titles Li was the first Olympic medalist for Switzerland in gymnastics since 1952 Personal life editLi and Friedli were married in 1988 and divorced in 2004 2 Li later married Qiang Huang 3 He has two children References edit Clarey C Love Conquers All Eventually New York Times April 14 1996 Pan Wang 2014 11 13 Love and Marriage in Globalizing China Routledge ISBN 9781317688846 Hafliger Von Andre Donghua Li und seine Qian Das Baby ist da Blick www blick ch Retrieved 2016 05 30 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Donghua Li LI Donghua at the International Gymnastics Federation Official Homepage German List of competitive results at Gymn Forum Love Conquers All EventuallyAwardsPreceded by nbsp Tony Rominger Swiss Sportsman of the Year1995 1996 Succeeded by nbsp Michael von Grunigen Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Li Donghua amp oldid 1163060583, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
