Laura Zeng

Laura Zeng
— Gymnast —
Full name Laura Yihan Zeng
Country represented  United States
Born November 15, 1999
Libertyville, Illinois, USA
Hometown Libertyville
Discipline Rhythmic gymnastics
Club North Shore Rhythmics
Head coach(es) Natalia Klimouk
Assistant coach(es) Angelina Yovcheva
Laura Zeng
Traditional Chinese 勞拉曾
Simplified Chinese 劳拉曾

Laura Zeng (born October 14, 1999 in Libertyville, USA) is an American rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2014 Youth Olympic all-around bronze medalist and two-time (2013, 2014) US Junior National champion.[1] In 2014, She became Junior Pan American continental champion.

Personal life

After first studying Chinese dancing, Zeng started rhythmic gymnastics at age 7 after a friend told her about it. Her older sister, Yecca Zeng is a fashion designer.[2] Her favorite motto is: "Work hard and work smart".

Career

Junior

Zeng appeared in international competitions in 2012, she won the all-around silver at the 2012 Junior Pacific Rim Championships behind Canada's Patricia Bezzoubenko and won bronze in all-around at the 2012 Junior World Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2013, Zeng competed at the Gymnastik Schmiden International winning gold in all-around, hoop, clubs, ribbon and bronze in ball. She also won bronze medal as one-person team at junior World Cup at Lisbon. She won her first junior title at the 2013 US Junior National championships.

In 2014, Zeng started her season competing at the 2014 Rhythmic Challenge winning the all-around and the event finals. She competed at the World Cup series in Lisboa, Pesaro and Minsk, she won numerous bronze and silver medals in the all-around,event finals and team competitions. At the 2014 Junior Pan American Championships, Zeng placed 1st (all-around, hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon); Zeng defended her junior title at the 2014 US Junior National championships placing 1st (all-around, hoop, ball), 2nd (clubs), 3rd (ribbon). Zeng was selected as the representative of USA at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, she placed second in the qualification[3] and went on to take the all-around bronze in the finals with a total score of 56.750, just two hundredths behind Belarus’ Mariya Trubach who took the silver medal.[4] Zeng’s medal marks the first rhythmic gymnastics medal for the U.S. at an Olympic or Youth Olympic Games.

Senior

In February 2015, Zeng made her senior and international debut competing at the 2015 Moscow Grand Prix finishing 21st in the all-around. In March, Laura won 2015 Challenge Championship participated only by USA national team members. In March 27-29, Zeng competed at the 2015 Lisboa World Cup finishing 14th in the all-around. In April 10-12, she took all-round 11th among 56 competitors at 68.40 at 2015 Pesaro World Cup in Italy. She qualified for ribbon final and finished at 7th.

References

  1. ↑ "Libertyville’s Laura Zeng repeats at USA Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships". Libertyville Suntimes.
  2. ↑ "Libertyville, Lincolnshire gymnasts find winning rhythm". Daily Herald. 12 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "Passion keeps Rhythmic gymnast Laura Zeng spinning towards success". International Federation of Gymnastics. 26 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Laura Zeng Hopes To Lead Rhythmic Revolution". TEAM USA. 27 August 2014.

External links