Lang Ping

"Jenny" Lang Ping (Chinese: 郎平; pinyin: Láng Píng; born 10 December 1960) is a Chinese former volleyball 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.[1]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lang.

Lang Ping
Lang in 2008
Personal information
NicknameIron Hammer (铁榔头/鐵榔頭)
NationalityChinese
Born (1960-12-10) 10 December 1960
Tianjin, China
HometownTianjin, China
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight71 kg (157 lb)
College / UniversityBeijing Normal University
University of New Mexico
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Number1
National team
1978-1985, 1990 China
Honours
Women's volleyball
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1984 Los AngelesTeam
World Championship
Gold medal – first place1982 Peru
Silver medal – second place1990 China
FIVB World Cup
Gold medal – first place1981 Japan
Gold medal – first place1985 Japan
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1982 New Delhi Team
Silver medal – second place 1978 Bangkok Team

In 2002, Lang became an inductee of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts.[2] She coached the U.S. women's national team to a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics 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.[3][4]

Lang is the main character in the 2020 biographical film Leap,[5] in which she is played by actress Gong Li.[6]

Personal life

Lang Ping was born in Tianjin. 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[7] and played the young version of Lang Ping in the film Leap.[8] Lang is currently married to Wang Yucheng, a professor at the China Academy of Social Science.[9]

In 1987, Lang moved to Los Angeles with Bai to study and serve as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of New Mexico. When asked about the reasons for her move, she said she wanted "to taste a normal life."[10] She maintains Chinese citizenship despite having lived in the U.S. for more than 15 years.[11]

Career

Nicknamed the "Iron Hammer",[1][11] Lang was a member of the Chinese national team that won the Gold Medal over the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. She was also a member of the team that won the World Championship crown in 1982 in Peru and won World Cup titles in 1981 and 1985.[12] 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.[13]

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.[13]

Coaching

Lang was an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico from 1987–89 and 1992–93.[2]

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 in Atlanta, Georgia and second place at the 1998 World Championships in Japan.[12] Lang Ping resigned from the Chinese national team in 1998 due to 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.[2]

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 and George W. Bush, attended the match.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]

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 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).[17]

Coaching career
Club/Team Country year
Chinese NT China China 1995 - 1998
Volley Modena Italy Italy 1999 - 2002
Asystel Novara Italy Italy 2002 - 2004
Pieralisi Jesi Italy Italy 2005
USA NT United States United States 2005 - 2008
Telecom Ankara Turkey Turkey 2008 - 2009
Guangdong Evergrande China China 2009 - 2014
Chinese NT China China 2013 - 2021

Awards

Individuals
  • 1996 FIVB Coach of the Year

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

References
  1. Tabuchi, Hiroko (9 August 2008). "Return of the "Iron Hammer"". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
  2. "China's Lang Ping gets U.S. volleyball post". USA Today. 8 February 2005. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
  3. "Lang Ping becomes first person in volleyball to win Olympic gold as player and coach". FIVB. 21 August 2016.
  4. Zuo, Mandy. "Volleyball visionary: coach Lang Ping worth her weight in gold – and more". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  5. Davis, Rebecca (26 September 2020). "Gong Li Drama 'Leap' Opens to $8.2 Million in China". Variety. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  6. Chan, Peter Ho-Sun (25 September 2020), Duo guan (Drama, Sport), Gong Li, Bo Huang, Gang Wu, Yuchang Peng, retrieved 11 February 2021
  7. "Lydia Bai - Women's Volleyball". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  8. Writer, Guest (10 January 2021). "Director Peter Chan and Actress Lydia Bai on the Technical and Political Challenges Behind China's Oscar Submission 'Leap'". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  9. "CHN: Lang Ping got married!". Worldofvolley.com. 19 January 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023.
  10. Townsend, Brad (6 August 2008). "Lang Ping left China for "normal life"". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
  11. "Iron Hammer still pounding". China Daily. 22 January 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
  12. O'Halloran, Ryan (15 August 2008). "Lang Ping goes home". Washington Times. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
  13. Lassen, David (8 July 2008). "U.S. women's volleyball coach an icon back in Beijing". Ventura County Star. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
  14. Wong, Edward (15 August 2008). "Ex-Chinese Star Guides U.S. to Win in Volleyball". New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  15. "Lang Ping not to extend US volleyball contract". 中国网. 26 November 2008. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  16. "Coaches Lang Ping and Kiraly, star players 30 years ago, face off in title match". FIVB. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014.
  17. "China crowned World Cup champions anew". FIVB. 29 September 2019. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022.
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