Liang Chow

Liang Chow
Chow with athlete Norah Flatley at the 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy
Personal information
Alternative name(s)Qiao Liang
Born (1968-01-01) January 1, 1968 (age 56)
Beijing, China
HometownBeijing
ResidenceWest Des Moines, Iowa, United States
Beijing, China
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented China (as head coach of the national female team)
Former countries represented China (as gymnast)

Liang Chow (also known as Qiao Liang; simplified Chinese: 乔良; traditional Chinese: 喬良; pinyin: Qiáo Liáng) (born January 1, 1968) is a Chinese-American former artistic gymnast. He is the founder, owner, and head coach of Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa.[1] He is notable for being the coach of 2008 Olympic balance beam champion Shawn Johnson and 2012 Olympic individual all-around champion Gabby Douglas.[2] He coached senior US gymnasts Norah Flatley and Rachel Gowey and junior US gymnast Victoria Nguyen.[3][4]

Biography

Growing up in Beijing, Chow was tapped by a district club at the age of 5 to train in gymnastics.[5] He was on China's national gymnastics team for more than a decade, winning numerous national and international medals.[5] However, he never competed in the Olympic Games; in 1988 he was too young to make the Chinese team, and before 1992 he suffered a back injury and retired from competition.[6]

He moved to the United States in 1991 on the suggestion of his aunt, who was working on her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. He accepted an English scholarship and a position as an assistant coach for the University of Iowa's men's gymnastics program. Afterwards he accepted a coaching job for the women's program. Following his experience working with female gymnasts, Chow decided to open his own gym to train gymnasts at a younger age, when they would be more flexible and open to learning new skills. He and his wife moved to West Des Moines and opened Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute on August 23, 1998. He expanded his operation to an 11 acres (4.5 ha), two-gym facility by 2003.[5] In June 2008, a flood destroyed the facilities.

Chow was the personal coach of Shawn Johnson since 1998. He began working with Gabby Douglas in 2010. He is known for his fatherly affection toward his proteges.[5] He was named the coach of the Chinese women's national gymnastics team in June 2018.[7]

Personal

Chow is married to Liwen Zhuang, a former gymnast on the Chinese national team. They have one child named Kevin.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Chow's Gymnastics - Des Moines, IA". chowsgym.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  2. ^ Emmert, Mark (Jul 31, 2012). "Olympics: Gabby Douglas finds coach Liang Chow at the right time". Poughkeepsie Journal.
  3. ^ "Broken ankle takes Rachel Gowey out of worlds, nationals". usatoday.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  4. ^ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2014/08/23/gymnastics-liang-chow-rachel-gowey-norah-flatley-gabey [bare URL]
  5. ^ a b c d e Park, Alice (26 July 2012). "Liang Chow's Gymnastics Coaching Journey: From Beijing to West Des Moines". TIME. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  6. ^ Emmert, Mark (30 July 2012). "Liang Chow stresses fun as he molds world's top gymnasts". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 4 August 2012. [dead link‍] (archive unavailable)
  7. ^ "Qiao Liang named as head coach of Chinese women's gymnastics team". Xinhuanet. Xinhua. 28 June 2018. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2021.