Yang Wei

One of the top all-rounders in the world in the years prior to the Beijing Olympics, Yang Wei crowned his career in front of his home crowd, overwhelmingly winning the gold by a massive margin of 2.6 points. In 2006 and 2007, Yang also won the all-around world title, having previously been runner up at the 2003 Worlds and 2000 Olympics. This made him the first man since Yugoslavia’s Petar Sumi (1922 and 1926) to successfully defend his all-around world title (since surpassed by three consecutive titles by Kohei Uchimura). More medals were collected by Yang in team competitions: gold at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics (nearly the entire Chinese team disappointed at the 2004 Games), and at the World Championships of 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2007. Being a true all-rounder, he rarely medalled in individual events, but did earn a silver on the rings in Beijing, and two apparatus bronzes at World Championships. Shortly after the Beijing Olympics, Yang married his longtime girlfriend, Yang Yun, a fellow gymnast who had won a bronze in the 2000 Sydney Games. The following year, Yang Wei retired from gymnastics, in which he had been active since age 5.