Qiu Qiyuan
Qiu Qiyuan is a Chinese artistic gymnast. She is the 2023 World and 2023 Asian champion in the uneven bars as well as the 2024 Olympic silver medalist. Additionally, she is the 2023 Asian all-around champion and is a two-time Chinese all-around champion.
Junior gymnastics career
Qiu began gymnastics when she was four years old.Espoir
At the 2019 Chinese Junior Championships, Qiu won the all-around bronze medal in the U-13 category. In the event finals, she won silver in the balance beam and floor exercise. Then at the 2019 National Youth Games, she won the silver medal in the all-around in the espoir division. Then in the event finals, she won gold in the balance beam and floor exercise and silver in the uneven bars behind Huang Zhuofan. At the 2020 Chinese Junior Individual Championships, she finished fifth in the all-around and won bronze in the uneven bars in the U-14 category.Junior
Qiu competed at the senior level Chinese Championships in 2021 and finished tenth in the all-around and seventh in the balance beam. Then at the National Games, she won the bronze medal in the balance beam behind Zhou Yaqin and Ou Yushan. She also finished fifth in the all-around and sixth with the Fujian provincial team. At the 2022 Chinese Championships, she won the gold medal in the balance beam. She finished seventh in the all-around and fourth in the uneven bars.Senior gymnastics career
2023
Qiu became age-eligible for senior international competition in 2023. She made her senior international debut at the Doha World Cup. She finished sixth in the uneven bars and seventh in the balance beam. Then at the Baku World Cup, she won the gold medal in the uneven bars. She won the Chinese national titles in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam. In June, she was chosen for China's Asian Championships team along with Zhang Qingying, Zhang Xinyi, Zuo Tong, and Jia Ruoyi. The team won China's fourth-straight Asian Championships team title. Individually, Qiu won the all-around gold medal with a score of 54.932.Qiu was selected to compete in Antwerp for the 2023 World Championships. The Chinese team consisted of Ou Yushan, Zhang Qingying, Zhou Yaqin, and Huang Zhuofan, with Wu Ran as the alternate. Qiu qualified for the individual all-around and uneven bar finals. Team China finished fourth in the team final behind the United States, Brazil, and France. Qiu also finished fourth in the individual all-around final behind Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade, and Shilese Jones. In the uneven bars final, she became World champion with a score of 15.100, slightly edging out Kaylia Nemour of Algeria.
2024
In March Qiu competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge where she helped China win as a team. Individually she placed first in the uneven bars and balance beam. The following month she competed at the Chinese National Championships where she won her second all-around national title. She was selected to represent China at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Luo Huan, Ou Yushan, Zhang Yihan, Zhou Yaqin.At the Olympic Games Qiu helped China qualify for the team final in third place. Individually she had qualified to the all-around and uneven bars finals. During the team final she contributed scores in vault, uneven bars, and balance beam towards China's sixth place finish. During the all-around final Qiu placed seventh. For the uneven bars final Qiu performed an exceptional routine, earning a 15.500, her highest score of the whole competition. She won the silver medal behind Kaylia Nemour, who posted a score of 15.700.