YANG YUN
The 2000 Olympic Games: A Chinese gymnast won medals & captured hearts.
Her passport said she was 16. She says she was 14.
In this interview from state-run Chinese television,
evidence of China's habitual deceit comes straight from the source.
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TRANSCRIPT
Produced by Stryde Hax & HeatherShow.com
Translations by Cindy
Subtitles by Heather Lawver
Caption: The 2000 Olympic Games: A Chinese gymnast won medals & captured hearts. Her passport said she was 16. She says she was 14. In this interview from state-run Chinese television, evidence of China's habitual deceit comes straight from the source... Yang Yun.
Caption: Yang Yun - 2000 Sydney Olympics
- Women's Gymnastics, Team Competition, Bronze Medal
- Women's Gymnastics, Uneven Bars, Bronze Medal
- Women's Gymnastics, All-Around, 5th Place
- Women's Gymnastics, Floor Exercise, 5th Place
[Photo of Yang Yun, three medals draped around her neck, surrounded by her parents.]
Narrator: This photo was taken in 2000. After Sydney Olympic Games ended, Yang Yun returned to Beijing, and together with her parents, had this photo taken. The three people in this photo were all destined for gymnastics.
Yang Both my parents were gymnasts. I must have inherited from them many gymnastics genes. I think highly of myself. In every aspect, [my] conditions are first rate. So when coaches saw me, they immediately took a liking to me.
Narrator: Since entering the national team at age 10, Yang Yun has shown excellence in every event. Such all-around skills enabled Yang Yun to represent China for the first time, to participate in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. But that was also the last time.
Yang: At that time, it was very lucky for me, because I hadn't been injured.
Narrator: The luck Yang Yun talked about has a special meaning. Because injuries caused her to miss almost all - except this Olympic Games - other major competitions.
2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Women's all-around finals. Behind the familiar faces of Liu Xuan and Khorkina was 14-year-old Yang Yun. Nobody noticed this refined and inexperienced girl. To everybody's surprise, after the first round of competition Yang Yun was only behind Khorkina and placed second.
In the second round of competition, it appeared that Yang Yun almost saw hope to the gold.
Khorkina: What's going on over there?
Narrator: During Khorkina's vault event, there was a problem with the height. Her movement failed. If Yang Yun could perform her normal way, she would overtake this strong opponent. At this moment, sitting in front of the TV, watching the competition, Yang Yun's parents' hearts hung in suspense.
Yang's mother: Right after Khorkina failed, Yang Yun's balance beam event followed immediately.
Yang: Here is the balance beam. The starting position of my mount has a full view of the vault event. When she failed, I perhaps smiled. Others thought that was somewhat... (laughs) [They] thought, "She failed and you took pleasure in others' misfortune or what?" Actually, it's not true. Because at that moment, there was a judge under there who said something to me. He said, "Don't be nervous, get up there, relax and perform."
[clip shows Yang Yun's balance beam performance. At the very end of a three-part combined back-flip, Yang loses her balance and falls off the beam.]
Narrator: This error caused Yang Yun's total score to drop to eleventh,
Yang: [After that] I did my best to perform, but in the end, I failed.
Narrator: In the next two events, Yang Yun performed consistently and finally won 5th place in women's all-around. But Khorkina only managed 10th place.
Yang: At that time, I was only 14 years old. I thought, if I didn't do well this time, there is still a next time. I thought, 'there is still hope.'
Narrator: In the end, at the Sydney Olympics, Yang Yun also won 3rd place on the uneven bars, 3rd place in team competition, and 5th place in floor exercise.
Returning to Beijing, she had this happy family photo taken. This is the most glorious & beautiful memory of her 13-year gymnastic career.
Since returning from Sydney, Yang Yun replaced Liu Xuan to become the captain of Chinese women's gymnastic team. Liu Xuan retired in 2001. Yang Yun became the leader of the team.
Sydney's regrets made Yang Yun long for her second Olympic Games. But beginning in 2001, her hand suffered several fractures. And without exception, every injury made her lose an opportunity to participate in a major competition.
This is footage from intramural competition for team selection right before the Asian Games of 2002. During the uneven bars event, Yang Yun fractured her metacarpals.
[clip of Yang Yun performing an uneven bars routine. While transitioning from the high bar to the low bar, when her hand lands on the low bar, her arms seem to crumple in pain and she falls to the mat.]
Narrator: In the next couple of years, this scene repeated many times.
Yang: It's quite unbearable. To tell the truth, it's very unbearable. Because every fracture happened right before a major competition. [I] lost several opportunities: world gymnastic championship, Asian games, national games. I lost all these opportunities. I felt very sorry.
Narrator: Yang Yun suffered her 5th metacarpal fracture in 2003. This fracture made her lose the opportunity to participate in world gymnastic championship competition, and at the same time made her miss Athens Olympic Games the next year.
Yang: That was a big blow to me. I couldn't bear it anymore. Time after time, at the peak of my performance, I got injured. After each [injury], I must re-establish my psychological state and resume training. I thought it was too much suffering. But I still persevered.
Yang's mother: She suffered metacarpal fracture five times. Who could have bore that much? She wrote in her training diary, "Yang Yun, Yang Yun, why do you suffer so much? Why [do you] get injured at every key moment?" After I read her diary, I cried. I shed tears. It was so true.
Yang: I persevered under this condition five times. In the end, I quit training, because I really couldn't bear it anymore. I thought, it's time to retire. I thought it was too painful.
Narrator: Yang Yun is now a sophomore at Communication University of China, to major in broadcast hosting. In the several years after she retired, she had recorded personal singles. In a Hollywood movie, she played a gymnast. At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, as a journalist, she interviewed her boyfriend, Yang Wei, a member of Chinese men's gymnastic team.
Yang: I have another question. Did you finish eating my walnuts?
Yang Wei: Your walnuts? Long gone.
Yang: I thought gymnastics had given me many glories. I should give something back to gymnastics. In the future, I think [I] should be very busy. This is what I can be sure of. If not busy, I will stay at home and have dogs. I may embark on... I will continue my studies and the connection with sports, including broadcasting.
Caption: "Because gymnastics has given me many glories, I should give something back to gymnastics."
- Yang Yun
Caption: The Heather Show, www.HeatherShow.com
Caption: Reproduction & distribution of the copyrighted material contained in this video is protected under 'Fair Use', as detailed in Title 17, Section 107 of US Copyright Law. For more details, visit www.HeatherShow.com/YangYun
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