Lu Yufei
| Lu Yufei 芦玉菲 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lu Yufei | ||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Feifei | ||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  China | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 28, 2000 Henan, China | ||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Zhengzhou | ||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior international elite | ||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2014–present (CHN) | ||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Lu Lifeng Zhang Haiyan Qiao Liang | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
Lu Yufei (Chinese: 芦玉菲; pinyin: Lú Yùfēi; born March 28, 2000) is a Chinese artistic gymnast. She is the 2021 Chinese national all-around and floor champion and balance beam silver medalist, and the 2020 Chinese national floor bronze medalist. She is the 2019 Asian Championships uneven bars champion and all-around silver medalist and a member of the gold medal-winning team.
Career[]
Junior[]
2013[]
Lu finished 40th in all-around qualification at the 2013 Chinese Championships and did not advance to finals.
2014[]
Lu did not compete at the 2014 Chinese Championships due to injury.
2015[]
At the 2015 Chinese Championships, Lu finished sixth with the Henan team, tenth in the all-around, and sixth on uneven bars. She then competed at the China National Youth Games in October, winning the floor title and medals on all events but vault, where she was fourth. Lu was the second-most decorated gymnast of the event behind Liu Tingting.[1]
Senior[]
2016[]
Lu made her senior debut at the 2016 Chinese Championships and finished fourth on floor, missing the podium by two tenths.[2]
2017[]
Lu finished seventh with the Henan team and fifth in the all-around at the 2017 Chinese Championships. Their team result qualified Henan for the 2017 National Games of China, where Henan was again seventh. Individually, Lu was seventh in the all-around, sixth on balance beam, and fifth on floor. She finished her season at the Chinese Individual Championships, where she competed all events except balance beam in qualifications and did not advance to event finals.
2018[]
At the 2018 Chinese Championships, Lu finished fourth with the Henan team and in the all-around, and seventh on uneven bars. She had a stronger showing at the Chinese Individual Championships in September, winning bronzes in the all-around and on floor, as well as placing fifth on uneven bars.
2019[]
Lu made her international debut at the 2019 American Cup and finished sixth overall after several minor mistakes.[3] Competing at the 2019 Chinese Championships in May, she finished eighth with the Henan team and 14th in the all-around and sixth on uneven bars individually. Lu was named to the Chinese team for the 2019 Asian Championships in June, alongside , , , and . At Asian Championships, Lu won gold with the Chinese team, as well as earning gold on uneven bars and silver in the all-around behind Zhou. Her provincial coach remarked that they were pleased with the results, as Lu had had several serious injuries that caused her both physical and mental setbacks.[4]
2020[]
After the COVID-19 pandemic limited international competitive opportunities, Lu opened her season at the postponed 2020 Chinese Championships in September. During qualifications, the Henan team finished ninth, but Lu individually surprised to finish fourth in the all-around and earn berths in the uneven bars and floor finals.[5] She remained in fourth overall after the all-around final, finishing only 0.150 points behind bronze medalist Qi Qi.[6] Lu fell on a straddled Tkatchev release early in her routine during the uneven bars final to finish seventh.[7] She went on to win bronze in the floor final behind Qi and .[8]
Lu finished her season at the 2020 Friendship and Solidarity Competition, which was held under strict COVID-19 safety protocols in Tokyo in November. She competed on uneven bars and balance beam to help Team Solidarity win gold.
2021[]
Lu competed at the 2021 Chinese Championships in early May. During qualifications, she and the Henan team were ninth overall. Individually, Lu finished second in the all-around behind Li Shijia, and qualified into all the event finals except for vault. She posted the highest score during the all-around final and her combined score earned her the gold medal ahead of Zhang Jin and Li; it was her first national title. Lu dedicated her medal to her coaches and also thanked her national teammates and staff for their continued support.[9] Following years of struggling with injuries, she reflected: "It's my first All Around gold at the National Gymnastics Championships. I see it as proof that I have the capability of a champion, and I'm one step closer to the Tokyo Olympic Games."[10] Lu's placement earned her an automatic berth on China's Olympic training squad, the pool from which the Olympic team will be named.
On the first day of event finals, Lu was unable to continue her streak of clean routines. After falling during her pirouette sequence, she finished last in the uneven bars final despite having the second-highest score in qualifications. Lu rebounded on the second day of event finals, winning silver on beam behind Li Shijia and gold on floor ahead of and Shang Chunsong. With her two golds and one silver, she was the most successful athlete of the event. Looking forward to the Olympic selection process, Lu said that because she missed the last Olympics due to injury, she wants to "seize the chance this time around."[11]
On July 3, Lu was selected to represent China at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside Ou Yushan, Tang Xijing, and Zhang Jin.[12]
Competitive history[]
Junior[]
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | National Championships | 40 | |||||
| 2014 | Did not compete | ||||||
| 2015 | National Championships | 6 | 10 | 6 | |||
| China National Youth Games |  |
4 |  |
|
| ||
Senior[]
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | National Championships | 4 | |||||
| 2017 | National Championships | 9 | 5 | ||||
| National Games | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | |||
| National Individual Championships | Did not reach finals | ||||||
| 2018 | National Championships | 4 | 4 | 7 | |||
| National Individual Championships | |
5 |
| ||||
| 2019 | American Cup | 6 | |||||
| National Championships | 8 | 14 | 6 | ||||
| Asian Championships | |
|
|
6 | |||
| 2020 | National Championships | 9 | 4 | 7 |
| ||
| Friendship and Solidarity Competition | |
||||||
| 2021 | National Championships | 9 | |
8 | |
| |
| Olympic Games | 7 | 18 | 4 | ||||
| National Games | 8 | 4 | |
7 | |||
References[]
- ^ Hopkins, Lauren (October 28, 2015). "Liu Dominates Chinese Youth Games". The Gymternet.
- ^ Hopkins, Lauren (May 15, 2016). "Chinese Nationals Conclude with Event Finals". The Gymternet.
- ^ Hopkins, Lauren (March 4, 2019). "Wong Wins American Cup in Senior Debut". The Gymternet.
- ^ "芦玉菲体操亚锦赛夺两金 曾被严重伤病拖后腿" [Lu Yufei won two gold medals at the Asian Gymnastics Championships, was once dragged down by serious injuries]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). June 26, 2019.
- ^ Hopkins, Lauren (September 26, 2020). "Liu Leads Going Into All-Around Final". The Gymternet.
- ^ Jiwani, Rory (September 26, 2020). "Liu Tingting retains Chinese all-around title". Olympic Channel.
- ^ Jiwani, Rory (September 27, 2020). "Liu Yang and Fan Yilin dazzle in Chinese national apparatus finals". Olympic Channel.
- ^ "A golden birthday for Qi Qi at Chinese gymnastics nationals". Olympic Channel. September 28, 2020.
- ^ "芦玉菲首夺全锦赛全能冠军 教练：一切从零开始" [Lu Yufei wins her first all-around championship at National Championships, coach: "everything starts from scratch"]. Sina Sports (in Chinese). May 8, 2021.
- ^ huaxia, ed. (May 8, 2021). "Lu Yufei crowned as national All Around gymnastics queen". Xinhua News Agency.
- ^ Xinhua (May 10, 2021). Zhang, Long (ed.). "China names squad for Olympic gymnastics". Shanghai Daily.
- ^ Lu, Yuchen; Shen, Nan; Niu, Mengtong (July 3, 2021). "步步为赢——中国体操队东京奥运会大名单诞生记" [Step-by-step to win – the creation of the Chinese gymnastics squad for the Tokyo Olympics]. Xinhua (in Chinese).
- ^ "Lu Yufei". The Gymternet.
External links[]
- 2000 births
- Living people
- Chinese female artistic gymnasts
- Gymnasts from Henan
- Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gymnasts of China