http://www.gymnastike.org/rss/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow
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 Olympics; 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. Out of his work 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, Liwen Zhuang, moved to West Des Moines, Iowa and opened Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute on August 23, 1998. He expanded his operation to a two-gym facility by 2003.

Chow was the personal coach of Shawn Johnson since 1998. He began working with Gabby Douglas in 2010.]]> http://c0179261.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/762601_UPLpQecrvt2qVkyrc0zU_m.jpg http://www.gymnastike.org/rss/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 22:30:09 GMT Sun, 19 May 2013 22:30:09 GMT http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/654656-Slideshow-The-Fierce-Fives-Golden-Moment Wed, 05 Sep 2012 04:23:00 CDT http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/654656-Slideshow-The-Fierce-Fives-Golden-Moment http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/504359-Coach-Chow-on-Shawn-Johnson-and-Gabby-Douglas-performances-at-the-2011-Visa-Championships Sat, 20 Aug 2011 22:48:00 CDT http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/504359-Coach-Chow-on-Shawn-Johnson-and-Gabby-Douglas-performances-at-the-2011-Visa-Championships http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/504143-Liang-Chow-on-Gabby-Douglas-performance-in-night-1-of-the-Visa-Championships Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:04:00 CDT http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/504143-Liang-Chow-on-Gabby-Douglas-performance-in-night-1-of-the-Visa-Championships http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/501470-Thoughts-from-Coach-Liang-Chow Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:14:00 CDT http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/501470-Thoughts-from-Coach-Liang-Chow http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/684234-Gabby-Douglas-and-Shawn-Johnson-A-Tale-of-Two-Champions
Shawn and Gabby became training partners at Chow's Gym in 2011, but when Shawn's injury from a skiiing accident sidelined her for good, she went from training partner, to Gabby's mentor. Shawn helped cheer Gabby on to Gold at the 2012 Games in London; now she's planning for a new kind of future, as Gabby ponders another bid for Gold in Rio 2016.

video by: Team USA]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 17:30:09 CDT http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/8828-Liang-Chow/video/684234-Gabby-Douglas-and-Shawn-Johnson-A-Tale-of-Two-Champions