January Birthday Profile: He Kexin
He Kexin (CHN) – January 1st, 1992.
He Kexin splashed into the international scene in 2008 with an innovative and original D-score bar routine. Among the skills that would continually wow the public was the Jaeger with half turn to regrasp in mixed grip.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics He fell during qualifications but still managed to earn a spot in the final. During the important team competition she overcame the disappointment of the qualifying round and contributed to her team’s historic first-place finish. During the bars final she survived the pressure of the crowd’s expectations and placed first with Nastia Liukin. A bit of luck accompanied her, and a second tie breaker resolved in her favour awarding her a home gold.
After the Olympics He and her fellow 2008 Chines Olympic team gynmasts had to face the non-stop rumours of being underage. Documents were uncovered that said He was born in 1994, making her 14 at the Olympics and not age-eligible. A formal investigation concluded that He had been born in 1992, and therefore eligible to compete at the senior level in 2008.
Post-Olympics, she went on to capture gold on bars at the 2009 World Championships without difficulty. But in 2010 He fell on her straddled Jeager during bars final at Worlds, and did not medal. She went on to win the bars title at the Asian Games a few weeks later.
By 2011 she had dropped floor and was focused only on uneven bars. Named to the World Team in Tokyo to contribute only on bars, she fell during qualifications on the same straddled Jeager. In 2012 she was named to World Cup team where she once again fell on the same skill. Her fate for the 2012 Olympics seemed to have been sealed with that fall. Taking He, who couldn’t seem to get the only routine she trained together under pressure, seemed to be too much of a risk for the struggling Chinese team. But surprisingly she was selected for the London team over Beijing teammate Jiang Yuyuan.
Her tale came to a happy ending in London: she qualified to the bars event final in second place, came through for her team when she was most needed, and won a silver medal on bars. She’s the first Chinese gymnast to win two medals in the same event at two consecutive Olympics. He Kexin can now happily retire.
He Kexin – Floor – 2010 Worlds Qualification. He Kexin on her less-seen apparatus.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5xxZt3kjmo
Article: Isabel Zamora
Editor: Maree Jones
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10 Comments
bel
he kexin did not use her 7.4 D score routine in EF, she only used the 7.1 one
13 Jan 2013 11:01 am (@Twitter)
Rachel
I think her D-score in the finals was 7.1. I watched an interview given by her on Chinese television where she discussed her performance in the finals and she said that she had several routines, the highest of which had 7.4 difficulty, but she needed to be in very good physical condition for that and it was not every day that she could do that one now that she is older. For the finals she didn’t feel that she could do the 7.4 so stuck with the easier one.
13 Jan 2013 12:01 pm (@Twitter)
tokyochris
What a gorgeous smile!!!
13 Jan 2013 01:01 pm (@Twitter)
Christian
He also trains vault; she vaulted in prelims in 2008 and 2012. Her 2008 vault was gorgeous actually – she was scoring higher than Yang Yilin, but I guess they wanted to save her for bars in finals.
I have a soft spot for He Kexin – in all the interviews with her I’ve read she seems so mature, and she’s been through such a tough few years it was great to see her get her redemption in London.
(just checked the scores and she got the 9th-highest vt score in the whole of 2008 quals!)
13 Jan 2013 02:01 pm (@Twitter)
Dani
Didn’t she fall on her laid-out jaeger?
13 Jan 2013 07:01 pm (@Twitter)
Cecile
Btw, she used to fall on her laid out jaeger, not the straddle….. and I’m happy that she can finish on a high note. She will be missed when she’ll retire…. ♥
13 Jan 2013 11:01 pm (@Twitter)
Name Kristen Ras
I, for one, was surprised when she was named to the Chinese team for London. But seeing how hard she worked and gave to her team was truly inspiring, and I was so glad to see her get another medal on her signature apparatus.
14 Jan 2013 04:01 am (@supergymfan)
Jg
One day she will confess like Armstrong.
Till then …blah.
15 Jan 2013 07:01 am (@Twitter)
Cee
Agreed. She's a lovely gymnast and certainly deserves acclaim for her incredible routines but there was way too much smoke--and China has a pattern of shenanigans like that. I jumped for joy when the IOC finally grew a pair and yanked their 2000 medals.
BTW, it's beyond irritating that so much discourse on the Internet boils down to dismissive "counter-arguments" like "haters" and "cool story brah." If you can prove she was of age in 2008, then prove it. If you can't or just feel she's unfairly maligned, then offer that up (as your opinion, of course). Or just ignore it. But "haters"? Are we in 7th grade? (It always makes me remember this message board where a rabid fan of some pop singer told the rest of us to "stop hatting!!!!" whereupon I immediately gave up my milliner's license and went back to being a shoemaker ;)
17 Jan 2013 03:01 am (@Twitter)
OpinionsarelikeAssholes@asshole.com
One day, all the haters will collectively choke on their own vomit and die. Until then...blah.
16 Jan 2013 04:01 pm (@Twitter)