Liang Chow (also known as Qiao Liang; ) (born January 1, 1968) is a Chinese-American former

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

. He is the founder, owner, and head coach of

Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute, commonly referred to as Chow's, is an American women's artistic gymnastics academy based in West Des Moines, Iowa. The academy was founded by Chinese former artistic gymnast Liang Chow. One of the country's ...

West Des Moines, Iowa West Des Moines is a city in Polk County, Iowa, Polk, Dallas County, Iowa, Dallas, Warren County, Iowa, Warren, and Madison County, Iowa, Madison counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. A majority of the city is located in Polk County, a minority of ...

. He is notable for being the coach of 2008 Olympic balance beam champion

Shawn Johnson Shawn Johnson East (born Shawn Machel Johnson; January 19, 1992) is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and team, all-around and floor exercise silver medalist. Johnson is also the 2007 al ...

and 2012 Olympic individual all-around champion

Gabby Douglas Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is the Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 Olympic all around champion and the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Champi ...

. He coached senior US gymnasts

Norah Flatley Norah Irene Flatley (born March 10, 2000, in San Diego, California) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2014 Pacific Rim junior balance beam champion. She previously competed for the UCLA Bruins and also competed for the Arkansas Razo ...

and

Rachel Gowey Rachel Kathryn Gowey (born October 3, 1997) is a former American artistic gymnast. She was a U.S. National Team member, from 2014 until her retirement from elite gymnastics in 2016, following her performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Gowey wa ...

and junior US gymnast Victoria Nguyen.

Biography

Growing up in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, 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 the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

; 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 The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. 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 , two-gym facility by 2003. In June 2008, a

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

destroyed the facilities. Chow was the personal coach of Shawn Johnson since 1998. He began working with

in 2010. He is known for his fatherly affection toward his proteges. He was named the coach of the Chinese women's national gymnastics team in June 2018.

Personal

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

International Elite Athletes

there were two International Elites training and competing at Chow's gym.

was a senior elite set to debut in 2017 (she was at senior level age from the beginning of 2016, out on injury since mid 2015). She is a beam specialist. Flatley competed at two national championships and three international assignments since her elite qualification in 2013.

Victoria Nguyen Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

was also set to make her senior debut in 2017. She was at elite level since 2014, and competed at two national championships and one international assignment. Former gymnast

retired from elite gymnastics to pursue NCAA college gymnastics at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Before her retirement Gowey competed in two national championships, two international assignments and the 2016 Olympic Trials. She qualified elite in 2014.

Alexis Vasquez Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...

competed for Chow as an elite from 2013 through early 2015. She competed in two national championships before dropping down to Level 10 (accompanied by a gym move). As a result she forfeited her senior international debut and any possible international assignments.

References

External links

Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, Liang 1968 births Living people American gymnastics coaches American sportspeople of Chinese descent Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese male artistic gymnasts College men's gymnastics coaches in the United States College women's gymnastics coaches in the United States People from West Des Moines, Iowa Gymnasts from Beijing University of Iowa alumni Asian Games medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games