"Jenny" Lang Ping (; born 10 December 1960) is a Chinese former

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player and coach. She is the former head coach of the Chinese women's national volleyball team and U.S. women's national volleyball team. As a player, Lang won the most valuable player award in women's volleyball at the 1984 Olympics. In 2002, Lang became an inductee of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...

. She coached the U.S. women's national team to a silver medal at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in her home country. Lang later coached the gold medal-winning Chinese women's national team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the first person in volleyball history, male or female, to have won Olympic gold both as a player and as a coach. Lang is the main character in the 2020 biographical film Leap, in which she is played by actress

Gong Li Gong Li ( zh, s=巩俐, t=鞏俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese-born Singaporean actress. She is regarded as one of the best actresses in China today, known for her versatility and naturalistic performances. She starred in three of the ...

Personal life

Lang Ping was born in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

. She was married to Chinese former handball player "Frank" Bai Fan from 1987 to 1995. In 1992, they had a daughter named Lydia Lang Bai, who played volleyball for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and played the young version of Lang Ping in the film ''Leap''. Lang is currently married to Wang Yucheng, a professor at the China Academy of Social Science. In 1987, Lang moved to Los Angeles with Bai to study and serve as an assistant volleyball coach at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. When asked about the reasons for her move, she said she wanted "to taste a normal life." She maintains Chinese citizenship despite having lived in the U.S. for more than 15 years.

Career

Nicknamed the "Iron Hammer", Lang was a member of the Chinese national team that won the gold medal over the United States at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She was also a member of the team that won the World Championship crown in 1982 in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and won World Cup titles in 1981 and 1985 in Japan. She captained the 1985 World Cup team and was named the most valuable player of the tournament. The Chinese women's volleyball team won multiple World Championships during Lang's career. Lang was the star outside hitter on the team. She was named one of China's Top Ten Athletes of the year from 1981 to 1986.

Legacy in China

Owing to her central role in the success of the Chinese women's volleyball team in the 1980s, Lang was seen as a cultural icon and is one of the most respected people in modern Chinese sports history. Lang is remembered as one of the first world champions for China.

Coaching

Lang was an assistant coach at the

from 1987 to 1989 and 1992–93. In 1995, Lang became the head coach of the Chinese national team and eventually guided the squad to the silver medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and second place at the 1998 World Championships in Japan. Lang Ping resigned from the Chinese national team in 1998 for health reasons. In the following year, she took a head coaching position in the Italian professional volleyball league and enjoyed great success there, winning various honours and the coach of the year award multiple times. She was selected 1996 FIVB Coach of the Year. She became the coach of the US National Team in 2005. Lang guided the team to the 2008 Olympics, where the US team faced off with China in her home country. The US team defeated China 3–2. Then Chinese and US presidents,

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...

and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, attended the match. The match drew 250 million television viewers in China alone. The team went on to win the silver medal, losing to Brazil in the finals 3–1. Lang allowed her contract to run out later that year, citing that she wanted to coach a club so as to spend more time with her family. She became the head coach of the China women's national volleyball team for the second time in 2013 and won the World Cup in Japan in 2015. In 2014, she was the only female head coach among the 24 teams in the FIVB World Championship. On August 21, 2016, Lang Ping guided the Chinese national team to the gold medal at 2016 Rio Olympics. With this victory, Lang Ping became the first person in volleyball history, male or female, to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games as a player with the Chinese national team in Los Angeles 1984 and as the Chinese national team head coach in Rio 2016. On September 29, 2019, after

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

swept all eleven matches to defend the World Cup title, Lang Ping also became the first person to win the back-to-back World Cup champions both as a player (1981, 1985) and as a coach (2015, 2019).

Coaching career

Awards

Individuals

* 1996 FIVB Coach of the Year

National team

; As a player * 1981 World Cup - Gold Medal * 1982 World Championship - Gold Medal * * 1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles - Gold Medal * 1985 World Cup - Gold Medal * 1990 World Championship - Silver Medal ; As a coach * 1995 World Cup - Bronze Medal * 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta - Silver Medal * 1998 World Championship - Silver Medal * 2007 World Cup - Bronze Medal * 2008 Olympic Games Beijing - Silver Medal * 2014 World Championship - Silver Medal * 2015 World Cup - Gold Medal * 2016 Olympic Games Rio - Gold Medal * 2018 World Championship - Bronze Medal * 2019 World Cup - Gold Medal

References

External links

International Volleyball Hall of Fame profile

Lang Ping at Olympics.com

Olympedia profile: Lang Ping

FIVB profile

Volleybox.net profile

Lang Ping: Iron Hammer Nailing Gold
(FIVB)

(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Ping 1960 births Living people American volleyball coaches Chinese volleyball coaches Chinese women's volleyball players Olympic coaches for the United States Olympic coaches for China Olympic medalists in volleyball Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic volleyball players for China Volleyball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Beijing Normal University alumni University of New Mexico alumni Manchu sportspeople Asian Games medalists in volleyball Volleyball players at the 1978 Asian Games Volleyball players at the 1982 Asian Games Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Volleyball players from Tianjin Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Chinese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate volleyball players in Italy Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Expatriate volleyball coaches Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Italy New Mexico Lobos coaches Coaches at the 2008 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 1996 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2016 Summer Olympics International Volleyball Hall of Fame inductees