China's Olympic gold medalist Li Xiaopeng has been ruled out of
the world gymnastic championships in October after having failed to
recover from an ankle injury sustained almost a year ago.
Li, 27, who took gold in the parallel bars while leading China
to gold in the men's team competition at the 2000 Sydney Olympics,
broke his left ankle in national championships in October 2005. "He
has recovered to about 50 or 60 percent, but as a gymnast, his
ankle is still too weak to endure the impact of jumping and
landing," his coach Chen Xiong said. "When can he compete? We need
to wait until next year for a conclusion."
(Shanghai Daily August 9, 2006)
