Donghua Li
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Categories: 1967 births | Chinese gymnasts | Olympic gymnasts of Switzerland | Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics | Living people | Artistic gymnasts | Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland | Swiss gymnasts | World champion gymnasts | Medalists at World Gymnastics Championships
Donghua Li (Chinese: 李东华, Pinyin: Lǐ Dōng Huá, born December 10, 1967 in Chengdu, China) is a Swiss gymnast who won gold in the Pommel Horse in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
From China to SwitzerlandHe won the Chinese national gymnastic championships in the Pommel Horse in 1987. However, a neck injury prevented him from making the 1988 Olympic team, and while injured he developed a relationship with Esperanza Friedli, a Swiss national who was backpacking in China. When he told his coaches he was to marry her, they told him to cut off his relationship or he would not be able to compete. He refused, and left for Lucerne with Esperanza.[1] Olympics and World ChampionshipsHe subsequently had to wait 5 years before acquiring Swiss citizenship. In the meantime, he won the Swiss national championships in the Pommel Horse from 1989 to 1992, and won the overall title in 1993. Because he didn't have Swiss nationality, these were not official. When he finally got Swiss citizenship in 1994, he won bronze in the World Championship in Pommel Horse. The next year, he won gold in the same event. Finally, in 1996, at the age of 28, he won both the European Gymnastic Championship and the Summer Olympics in Pommel Horse. References
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