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April 17, 2018

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Local gymnast takes home gold in Germany

Zhang Jin, 18, from Minhang, won a gold medal at the FIG Individual All-Around World Cup held in Stuttgart, Germany last month. It is the first win for the Chinese women鈥檚 gymnastics team in seven years.

鈥淢y performance on the vault and uneven bars weren鈥檛 my best,鈥 Zhang said after the competition. 鈥淚 was a bit nervous, but I kept myself together and told myself to just focus on each move.鈥

The balance beam is Zhang鈥檚 forte, where she posted the highest score of the competition. Her floor exercise won her the second-highest score.

鈥淚 was anxious and worried, but I really thought she could win,鈥 said Zhang Guoping, father of Zhang Jin. 鈥淭he excitement of sports is that you never know the result until the end. Cameramen like to give champion more close-ups, and I noticed Zhang鈥檚 face appearing quite often.鈥

Zhang Jin was ranked sixth in last year鈥檚 FIG All-Around World Cup. This is the first world championship she has won.

鈥淎s her parent, I naturally hoped she would win, but it still came as a surprise,鈥 said her father. 鈥淭echnically speaking, I think her overall ability ranked fourth among the eight contestants, but her performance was stable. That鈥檚 her strong point. When other contestants made mistakes, she just kept her cool.鈥

After her victory, she expressed deep gratitude to her coaches. She also said she would reward herself by buying a new watch.

Zhang joined the national team when she was 13 and moved to Beijing for her training. When her parents suggested visiting her during the Spring Festival, she demurred, saying she really couldn鈥檛 give up training time.

鈥淲hen we miss her, we just look at her photos and go through WeChat history,鈥 said her father. 鈥淚n order to maintain training discipline, she鈥檚 not allowed to carry her phone around with her, so we can鈥檛 just call her anytime we want.鈥


 

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