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MO HUILAN
Mo Huilan (born 1979) is a Chinese gymnast who competed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She was one of
China's most successful gymnasts in the 1990s. She is known for performing routines of exceptional difficulty and technique, but also for
inconsistency.
Mo was born in Guilin, Guangxi Province, China. Her birth date has been reported variously as July 19 and November 7; it is
unclear which is correct. She is a fraternal twin; her sister Mo Huifang was also a gymnast.
Both Huilan and Huifang began gymnastics in 1985 in Guangxil. In 1990, they were invited to attend a camp in Beijing to test for
admission to the Chinese national training center. Huifang was accepted; Huilan was not. However, showing the determination that would
serve her well in her competitive career, Huilan talked the coaches into allowing her to remain in Beijing with her sister. Eventually,
Huifang was injured and retired from gymnastics; Huilan, in contrast, thrived and improved.
Mo made her international debut at the 1993 Cottbus Cup, where she placed a modest sixth in the all-around. The next year at the Asian
Games, however, she nearly swept the competition with gold medals in the team, balance beam, uneven bars, and vault and a bronze in the all-around.
She came to the attention of the international gymnastics community at the 1994 World Championships in Brisbane, Australia, where she
achieved a seventh-place finish in the all-around final, the highest of any Chinese gymnast. Although she placed out of the medals on floor
exercise, her routine, which was choreographed to Leroy Anderson's "Typewriter Song," was a hit with the audience. Her performance on the
uneven bars, where she debuted her own version of the Gaylord salto, also gained recognition and appreciation. Mo was the first female to
perform this skill, a one and a half front somersalt over the bar to recatch.
At the 1995 World Championships in Sabae, she showed an increased level of difficulty on all events, including a textbook Yurchenko
double full, a double layout on floor exercise and beam routine highlighted by a dynamic two foot layout and blind double stag leaps.
Her team won the first medal for China in the team competition. Her preliminary scores qualified her in first place for the all-around,
but a fall from beam dropped her to sixth place in the all around final. She won the beam title outright with a fluid routine, and tied
for silver on unevens with all around champion Lilia Podkopayeva.
Mo was expected to be a major medal contender at the 1996 Olympics. However, the competition would prove to be disappointing for the
entire Chinese team. Errors in the prelims kept Mo from qualifying for the beam and bars event finals; mistakes and falls from several of
her teammates kept the Chinese squad from earning a medal in the team competition. In the all-around, Mo produced a beautiful Yurchenko
double full and a solid routine on the unevens and balance beam. She was in first place going into the last rotation, floor exercise but
stepped out of bounds and dropped to fifth place. She did not leave the Olympics empty handed, winning a silver on vault behind
Romanian Simona Amânar.
After the Olympics, Mo participated in exhibitions and shows in the United States before returning to competition. She continued to
compete through the 1997 season. However, after less than stellar performances at the World Championships and other meets, she quietly
retired from gymnastics.
By all accounts, Mo's life after gymnastics has been fruitful. She has enjoyed status as a celebrity in China, where she is recognized
as one of the country's most beloved sports figures. She pursued her education at Renmin University of China in Beijing and subsequently
began a career as a sports journalist and commentator. She has also tried her hand at modeling and has a contract with the Li Ning
company. She portrayed former teammate Sang Lan in a television miniseries.
For more information, visit her
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
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