By Pete Borello
 Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier |
Li Lu captured Olympic gold for China; now she’s coaching others here
Li Lu may be the best kept secret in Mountain View.
Walk down Castro Street and ask people if they know that a former Olympic gymnast lives and works in town, and it’s a good bet they won’t have a clue.
After all, those entering the city limits aren’t greeted by a sign reading “Home of an Olympic champion.”
There’s not even a banner hanging out front of Lu’s workplace, Gold Star Gymnastics Academy, boasting “Gold medalist on staff.”
But that’s just fine with the unassuming Lu, who won both a gold and silver medal in the 1992 Olympics as a member of the Chinese National Team.
Lu doesn’t talk about her glory days unless asked. She isn’t one to drop names. And there’s no danger of her wearing the Olympic medals around town; Lu left those back in China with her parents.
“I’m very surprised with how down to earth she is,” said Gold Star owner Cynthia Zirpolo, who hired Lu in March. “In China, she’s used to being a star, but when she came here she didn’t expect star treatment. She took the bus (to work) and slept on a friend’s couch.”
Lu immigrated to the United States in December with her mind fixated on one thing: coaching.
“I wanted to help American kids fulfill their dreams and get to the Olympics,” said Lu, who turns 24 next month. “Also, it was my dream to work with gymnasts.”
It didn’t take Lu long to land a job - not with her credentials.
Lu’s résumé includes winning a gold medal in the uneven bars, where she scored a perfect 10, and a silver in the balance beam at the 1992 Barcelona Games. That same year, she won the all-around title at the Pacific Alliance Championships and placed fourth in the bars at the World Championships in Paris. All this at the age of 15.
Lu retired from the sport two years later to attend college at Beijing University, where she earned a business degree and became the assistant gymnastics coach.
So when Lu contacted Gold Star last winter and said she was interested in a coaching job, Zirpolo didn’t think twice about hiring her.
“She’s quite an asset and we’re real lucky to nab her,” said Zirpolo, a Los Altos resident. “She could have gone anywhere, but she liked the people here and the working environment.”
Lu said she’s starting to settle in to the Bay Area, which she calls “very American” compared to the other places she has visited: Los Angeles and Arizona. Lu wound up here because she was offered a place to stay in Palo Alto with a friend and former college classmate who transferred to Stanford University.
Lu has since moved to Mountain View and said she finds comfort in the large number of Chinese people who live in the area. Lu’s use of the English language is limited - she only knew a few words when she arrived in the U.S. - but she’s learning quickly.
“She’s taking English classes (at Stanford) and I’ve seen a big improvement since she started here,” Zirpolo said. “When she began coaching, she did more showing than telling. But it didn’t take long for her to pick up the gymnastics lingo - it’s a small set of words.”
Zirpolo said Lu coaches about 100 gymnasts every week at Gold Star, which annually trains 1,000 gymnasts ages 1 1/2 to 17 years old. Lu teaches a variety of classes - mostly those for higher-level gymnasts - and is also an assistant coach for Gold Star’s competitive team.
“She really does a great job working one-on-one with the kids,” Zirpolo said. “She has a great rapport with them and doesn’t have the big ego some coaches have. The kids just love her.”
Last week after Lu concluded her Town Crier interview and walked out of Zirpolo’s office, she received a warm greeting from her next class.
“Hi Li Lu!” the girls said excitedly, almost in unison.
Lu responded with a modest wave of her right hand and a big smile, then led the group to the mat for exercises.
Among these students was 14-year-old Rebecca Lauterbach, who described Lu as “really friendly.” The Los Altos resident has been learning from Lu since she began coaching at Gold Star.
“It’s cool to have a coach that went to the Olympics,” Lauterbach said. “She knows a lot and gives us a lot of tips. She’s injured now (sprained ankle), but she still tries to show us how to do things.”
It only takes a few minutes of watching Lu work with a class to realize she is truly in her element.
“Seeing kids improve their skills is very exciting,” she said. “When I teach kids a new (routine) and they learn it quickly, it makes me feel very good.”
Zirpolo said Lu has a high regard for the American children she coaches because school is such an important part of their lives.
“There’s a better balance between school and gymnastics here than in China,” Zirpolo said. “She’s impressed with how good the gymnasts are considering that school is so much of a priority.”
Growing up in China, Lu said school always came second to gymnastics. A distant second.
Lu’s parents enrolled her in a gymnastics school at age 5 because she was so rambunctious.
“I was not quiet,” Lu said. “I was like a boy. I didn’t want to eat, just play. My parents’ friend told them to take me to gymnastics because I would get a lot of exercise and it would help me eat food.”
Lu took to the sport immediately and displayed more potential than most of the other students in her age group. By 7, Lu was in an intense program that included 8-10 hours of training per day, six days a week.
However, this left little time for education. Lu said she had only eight hours of schooling per week.
“I missed my childhood because I started training so young,” Lu said. “I missed many wonderful times with my parents.”
Lu’s parents actually wanted her to quit gymnastics after two years because the school was so far from their Hunan Province home.
“They took me there by bicycle and it took 40 minutes each way,” Lu said. “They were tired and it was very hard for them.”
However, the 7-year-old soon changed their minds.
“I really loved gymnastics and I couldn’t stop,” Lu said. “One time at night I (snuck out) and took the bus by myself to the school. My parents were very worried. But they decided to let me keep training and my teacher let me stay with her for two years.”
Lu’s love for the sport grew even stronger and she flourished in competition. At 12 she began a four-year run as China’s top performer in the uneven bars. “No one could catch up,” Lu said.
This led to a spot on the Olympic team in 1992. When Lu first learned she had made the team, however, she wasn’t exactly thrilled.
“I didn’t know what the Olympics were; I was so young,” Lu said. “I asked someone, ‘What’s that?’ They told me and I said, ‘Oh!’ I didn’t know it was so serious and important.”
Once in Spain, Lu discovered first-hand how serious these games were. And the rest of the world soon learned just how talented Lu was.
One of the most famous images from the Barcelona Games has to be China coach Gao Jian hoisting a joyful Lu on his shoulders after the judges flashed her perfect score in the bars.
“I was so excited,” said the diminutive Lu, who stands 4-foot-6 and weighs about 70 pounds. “I didn’t know I’d get a 10, but I intended to do well. I tried so hard.”
Lu’s silver-winning performance on the beam was nearly as good, earning her a silver with a score of 9.962. Lu believes having to go first cost her the gold because the judges were hesitant to give too high of a score so early in the competition.
Not that Lu is dwelling on it.
“Being in the Olympics was the best experience,” she said. “I trained for many years and my coaches gave me hope and I didn’t disappoint them.”
After the Olympics, Lu returned to China a hero.
“Anywhere I went after that, people knew me and asked me questions,” Lu said. “But no more.”
Lu doesn’t seem to care about fame. She occasionally gets recognized in the Bay Area, but hasn’t even told the other students in her English class about her accomplishments.
Lu is more concerned with her new career as a coach.
“Her work ethic is wonderful, and I think she feels she needs to prove herself as a coach,” Zirpolo said. “Her goal is to coach an Olympic champion.”
And if that happens, Mountain View’s best kept secret surely will be out.
