Ma Yanhong (; born March 21, 1964, in Beijing, China) (also reported in some media as July 5, 1963) is a retired Chinese Olympic athlete. She was the first Chinese gymnast, male or female, to win a gold medal at the World Gymnastics Championships and the Olympic Games."Gymnastics Team Sets Goal for Games" Zhan Haitao, Li Xiao (trans), China Daily, May 31, 2004
Biography Ma began gymnastics at the Shichahai Sports School for Amateurs in her hometown of Beijing.Biography at Beijing 2008 Olympics site The age at which she started training has been variously reported as six, eight and nine. While her birth date was reported as March 21, 1964 in an International Gymnast feature, and Chinese media also gave this as her birth year, she competed under a false birth date of July 5, 1963.
Ma trained under intense conditions; she was described as rebounding off the uneven bars so many times that wounds opened on her skin, and she was under such strict weight control that her lips cracked from dehydration.
In 1978, her first year with the Chinese national team, Ma made her international debut at the Asian Games, where she shared in the team gold medal and won the uneven bars title. She repeated her success at the 1978 Shanghai Cup, again winning team and bars titles. Ma was a member of the 1979, 1981 and 1983 World Championships teams; she was the Chinese National Champion in 1982. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, Ma tied with American Julianne McNamara to win the gold medal on the uneven bars, and both of them scored a perfect 10.0 in the final. This was the first Olympic gold medal ever for China in women's gymnastics.
Ma's best event was unquestionably the uneven bars; she placed first on this apparatus at the age of fifteen at the 1979 World Championships, tied with Maxi Gnauck, making her the first Chinese gymnast to win a World title. Her bars routines were noted for their technical difficulty, virtuosity and originality. The dismount she pioneered, a hecht (release at the height of a swing) followed by a salto backward with a full turn, now known as the Ma, is valued as an "F," the second highest difficulty rating possible, in the current Code of Points. Ma was not only a bars specialist, however: she placed fourth in the all-around at the 1981 World Championships, sixth all-around at the 1984 Olympics, and often won silver or bronze medals on the floor exercise and balance beam in international meets.
After retiring from gymnastics, Ma pursued a university education and spent some time in the United Kingdom and the United States, coaching at clubs in California. She returned to China in 1994 and is now involved in business. She also owns a Japanese restaurant in Beijing and has worked as a commentator for various gymnastics competitions, including the 1999 World Championships in Tianjin. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2008 as the first Chinese inductee.
Eponymous skill Ma has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points. ApparatusNameDescriptionDifficultyUneven bars Ma Hip circle backward on low bar or high bar - hecht with 1/1 turn (360°) to salto backward F (0.6)
Competitive history YearEventTeamAAVTUBBBFX 1978 Asian Games Shanghai International 1979 World Championships 4 1980 USGF International Invitational 6 1981 TBS Cup USA-CHN Dual Meet World Championships 4 5 1982 Chinese Championships USGF International Invitational 6 4 World Cup Final 4 74 4 4 1983 Chinese Championships 6 TBS Cup World Championships 5 1984 Beijing International Catania Cup 7 USA-CHN Dual Meet Olympic Games 6 56
References
External links
Ma Yanhong at Gymn Forum