In a surprise move, China has decided
to withdraw their women's team from the upcoming World Championships
in Ghent, according to the Chinese Gymnastics Federation's
website. The report states that Sun Xiaojiao will be the
sole representative of the CGF in Belgium. Inside sources
have speculated that the close timing of the World Championships
and the Chinese National Games could be behind this astonishing
move. "But after weighing the pros and cons for the
cities and provinces, and to repay the support given by
cities and provinces over the years, the CGF has given up
the opportunity to chase the gold at the World Championships."
Sun Xiaojiao was born on December 18,
1984 and hails from the town of Zhe Jiang (Guang Zhou province).
She was first seen in Europe at the 1999 Cottbus Cup where
she qualified to the beam final and placed third. While
she did not make her country's Olympic team, she most recently
won the balance beam gold at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane
with an impressive showing. She started gymnastics at the
age of three and her idol is Olympic balance beam champion
Liu Xuan.
