In 2008, at 16, Yang Yilin was an Olympic Gold Medalist with the Chinese team and she also had a bronze medal in the all-around and on the uneven bars.
Today, the former Olympic champion leads a very different life from the life of a Chinese Gymnast. The 20-year-old is now a college student at Beijing Sports University in the department of competitive sports. Much to the horror of some die-hard gymnastics fans, Yilin is now a cheerleader. Considering her competitive sports history with gymnastics, this is not an unusual transition. Her squad recently took first place in a competition.
Yilin also appeared on the Chinese version of the reality TV series, So You Think You Can Dance. She is no longer a teenaged gymnast, but a beautiful young woman. She appears in a yellow dress with her hair done in what can only be described as a poodle like style. Yilin dances to "I Used To Rule The World" By Coldplay, which is a very appropriate song considering her gold medal with the Chinese team at the Olympics and since China missed out on the podium this year at the Olympics. She does some gymnastics in her routine as well. She does a side somi and a small tumbling series of some back handspring step outs.
She "retired" per say in 2012, but Yilin has said she is still training, just not as much, with school taking up a good portion of her time. Yilin also volunteers for a sports service organization and she still wants to be involved with gymnastics in some way, perhaps as a coach.
Source:Blossom, Chinese Gymnastics Flowers
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