In 1982, the 9th Asian Games was held in New Delhi, , the capital of India. Chinese gymnasts Li Ning and Chen Yongyan represented the Chinese team. Li Ning, who had just won a total of 6 gold medals in the horizontal bar, parallel bars, and all-around events in the World Cup, also won the men's gymnastics all-around championship at the Asian Games, and Chen Yongyan was not far behind, surpassing the women's The all-around gymnastics gold medal was in the bag.
After the competition, they returned to China and received flowers and applause from countless people. They were called the golden boys and girls in the gymnastics world, and the relationship between the two people who had won many honors began to slowly heat up. After the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics , Chen Yongyan announced her retirement. At the same time, her relationship with Li Ning was also made public. Over the years, Chen Yongyan has been willing to be the good wife behind Li Ning, and she and her husband have experienced many difficulties together.
Chen Yongyan, who was born in 1962, has been practicing gymnastics since she was 7 years old. In 1972, at the age of 10, she entered the Guangxi Provincial Gymnastics Team. Chen Yongyan is one year older than Li Ning, but when she came to the gymnastics team, Li Ning had already entered the gymnastics team a year earlier than her. The two were of the same age and quickly became familiar with each other, and were regarded by many as childhood sweethearts on the gymnastics team. Later in 1979, Li Ning was still in the Guangxi Provincial Gymnastics Team, while Chen Yongyan had been selected into the national gymnastics team with her outstanding strength.
Although the two people are separated in two places, the friendship between them has not weakened. Li Ning looked at such an outstanding Chen Yongyan and secretly made up his mind to join the national team. Finally, in 1980, he came to Beijing as he wished. Although Li Ning was born in a family of teachers, his talent in gymnastics was very high. Two years after joining the national team, Li Ning shined in the 1982 World Cup, winning 6 gold medals. And Chen Yongyan has always maintained an excellent competitive state. Not only has she served as the captain of the Chinese women's gymnastics team , but she has also shown her outstanding strength in many world competitions.
After the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, the fame of Chen Yongyan and Li Ning spread throughout the sports world. Their appearance and strength are very matched, and they are called "Gymnastics Princess" and "Gymnastics Prince" respectively. At this time, they had known each other for many years, and their friendship had quietly turned into love. They were originally teammates who fought side by side to win glory for the country, and finally became lovers who their childhood sweethearts finally held hands. Later, at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Li Ning won a total of six medals, 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze, while Chen Yongyan won the bronze medal in the team competition. After the Los Angeles Olympics , due to injuries, Chen Yongyan chose to retire.
The love story between her and Li Ning also surfaced, and many fans sent their sincere blessings to the two. In 1993, two people who had been in love for eleven years held a wedding and became a married couple. After Chen Yongyan retired, he went to the United States to study, and later opened a gymnastics training school in the United States, continuing to exert his remaining enthusiasm in the field of gymnastics. After Li Ning retired in 1988, he turned around and chose the business world, starting from the well-known Jianlibao company.
As time went by, Li Ning also had the idea of starting his own business. Later, with the help of friends from all walks of life, Li Ning founded his own sports brand. Since then, the brand has developed rapidly in China and has become a leader in domestic sports brands. In order for her beloved to start a successful business, Chen Yongyan did not hesitate to use all his savings to support Li Ning. Fortunately, in the end, the brand lived up to their expectations and was loved by many people.
Chen Yongyan was already 31 years old when she married Li Ning. However, they had no children after five or six years of marriage. Chen Yongyan once teased Li Ning and asked if he was not good enough. The two went to the hospital for physical examination, and the doctor did not say they had any health problems.Later in 1998, Chen Yongyan and Li Ning finally welcomed their son. They gave their son a simple and easy-to-remember name, Li Xiaoning .
After having a son, it was no longer suitable for the family to live in two countries, so Chen Yongyan sold her gymnastics school in the United States and began to return to China to develop and manage a sports company with her husband Li Ning. In 2005, 43-year-old Chen Yongyan became pregnant again. As an advanced maternal , doctors repeatedly advised her to carefully consider whether to keep the child, but Chen Yongyan finally chose to give birth to the child. In 2006, Chen Yongyan gave birth to a lovely daughter. She was already 44 years old that year, but the years still did not leave too many traces on her face. Chen Yongyan, who was born as an athlete, was still beautiful even when she was nearly fifty years old.
Nowadays, Li Ning's sports brand is getting bigger and bigger, and it is like the "light of domestic products". While Chen Yongyan accompanies her husband to go forward side by side, she also puts more energy on her family, living a low-key and happy life. In those days, she occasionally appeared in public and she still looked charming and her temperament was still the same as before. She once won honors for her country on the playing field, and now lives in a wealthy and warm family with two children. I have to say that Chen Yongyan is indeed the big winner in life.
