Liang Chow | |
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— Gymnast — | |
Liang Chow with athlete Norah Flatley at the 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy.
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Personal information | |
Country represented | United States |
Former countries represented | China |
Born |
Beijing, China |
January 1, 1968
Residence | West Des Moines, Iowa, United States |
Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics |
Retired | 1992 |
Liang Chow (formerly Qiao Liang, Simplified Chinese: , Traditional Chinese: 喬良, Pinyin: Qiáo Liáng) (born January 1, 1968) is a Chinese former artistic gymnast. He is the founder, owner, and head coach of Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa. He is notable for being the coach of 2008 Olympic balance beam champion Shawn Johnson and 2012 Olympic individual all-around champion Gabby Douglas. He currently coaches senior US gymnasts Norah Flatley and Rachel Gowey and junior US gymnast Victoria Nguyen.
Growing up in Beijing, Chow was tapped by a district club at the age of 5 to train in gymnastics. He was on China's national gymnastics team for more than a decade, winning numerous national and international medals. However, he never competed in an 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.
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. In June 2008, a flood destroyed the facilities.