bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Name: Cheng Fei 
Born: 29 May, 1988 in Huangshi, Hubei province

Beijing entry: Women's gymnastics, vault/floor exercice and team event

Career highlights: Gold medal (vault), 2005 world championships; Triple gold (vault, floor and team), 2006 world championships and the Doha Asian Games; Gold medal (vault), silver medal (team), 2007 world championships

Main rivals: Hong Su-jong (North Korea/vault), Jade Barbosa (Brazil/vault), Shawn Johnson (USA/floor) 

The club includes exalted names such as Nadia Comaneci, Olga Korbut and Svetlana Khorkina. They all had moves named after them - 'The Comaneci', the 'Korbut Flip' and 'The Khorkina'.

Joining that exclusive band is China's Cheng Fei, who shot to superstardom at the world championships in 2005 with a dazzling execution of a vault routine that has since become known as 'The Cheng'. It also ended a decades-long drought for China in the vault competition at top international meets.

Cheng repeated her near-flawless performance at the world championships the next year, adding the floor exercice title for good measure also helping China lift their first world team title.

 'The Cheng' is a round-off, half-turn on to the vault, with a 540-degree twist in the laid-out position. She had been the only female gymnast to have performed such a feat until Hong Su-jong of North Korea and Brazilian Jade Barbosa followed her act earlier this year.

 The diminutive 20-year-old from Hubei province is at the forefront of China's bid for the team gold in Beijing.

It won't be easy - China finished seventh four years ago in Athens, the team's worst performance at a major event. In total that summer China managed just one gold, through Teng Haibing in men's pommel horse, but this positive was far outweighed by the numerous embarrassing tumbles and slip-ups.

Cheng, who was making her Games debut, finished fourth in her specialty event, the vault, and this promising performance helped her avoid the post-Olympics cleanout by frustrated gymnastics authorities. 

Admitted to a local sports school in Wuhan, Hubei province, at the age of six, Cheng has developed an edge on both vault and the floor, two events traditionally seen as China's weak links. The three women's gymnastics gold medals China has won in its Olympic history came in uneven bars and balance beam, two disciplines that value flexibility over strength

 Cheng hit top form in 2006. Apart from the three titles at the world championships, she also bagged three gold medals -in the same disciplines - at the Doha Asian Games. 

 But as the Olympics draw nearer. Cheng, recently named team captain, has a major concern.

 'Managing my weight tops my agenda these days,' Cheng told the China Sports Daily. 'I can't afford to let non-sports factors affect my performance.' 

These growing pains aren't to be understated. In 2007 alone Cheng gained five centimetres in height. How much weight she has gained has not been revealed. But Cheng is honest when it comes to admitting that changes to her body mean changes to her routine.

 'It's going to be an uphill battle,' she said. 'But I'm a different athlete from Athens. I'm more experienced and mentally stronger.'





No 42: Cheng Fei