Which Chinese gymnast defended Olympic rings gold at Paris 2024?

Liu Yang defended Olympic rings gold at Paris 2024.

Representing China, Liu Yang won the men’s still rings final at the Paris Games on 4 August 2024. He scored 15.300, combining a 6.4 difficulty score with 8.900 execution. His teammate Zou Jingyuan took silver with 15.233, while Greece’s Eleftherios Petrounias won bronze.

The victory made Liu a repeat Olympic champion: he had won the same event at Tokyo 2020, where the Games were held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still rings rewards strength, stability and control, particularly in static positions such as the iron cross and during a precise dismount.

This result is easy to mix up with China’s other leading male gymnasts. Zou Jingyuan is a parallel-bars specialist and finished second on rings in Paris, while Zhang Boheng competed in the all-around and team events. Liu’s Paris triumph therefore refers specifically to the men’s rings apparatus final, not the team competition.