Lee Chih-kai

Lee Chih-kai (simplified Chinese: 李智凯; traditional Chinese: 李智凱; Hanyu Pinyin: Lǐ Zhìkǎi; Tongyong Pinyin: Lǐ Jhìhkǎi; Wade–Giles: Li3 Chih4k'ai3; born 3 April 1996)[1] is a Taiwanese artistic gymnast. He is the 2020 Olympic silver medalist in the pommel horse, and he was the first gymnast representing Chinese Taipei to win an Olympic medal. He is the 2019 World silver medalist and the 2018 World bronze medalist on the pommel horse. He is the 2018 Asian Games pommel horse champion and the 2019 Asian all-around champion. He is a three-time (2017, 2019 and 2021) Summer Universiade pommel horse champion.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lee.
Lee Chih-kai
Lee in 2021
Personal information
Full nameLee Chih-kai
Country represented Taiwan
Born (1996-04-03) 3 April 1996
Yilan, Taiwan
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior international elite
Years on national team2014–present
ClubTaoyuan County
Head coach(es)Lin Yu-hsin
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Chinese Taipei
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2020 TokyoPommel horse
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2019 StuttgartPommel horse
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Doha Pommel horse
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta Pommel horse
Gold medal – first place2022 HangzhouPommel horse
Bronze medal – third place2022 HangzhouTeam
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 UlaanbaatarAll-around
Bronze medal – third place2019 UlaanbaatarTeam
Bronze medal – third place2022 DohaTeam
Pacific Rim Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Medellin Vault
Silver medal – second place 2018 Medellin Pommel horse
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Medellin Floor exercise
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2017 Taipei Pommel horse
Gold medal – first place 2019 Napoli Pommel horse
Gold medal – first place2021 ChengduPommel horse
Silver medal – second place 2019 Napoli Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Napoli All-around

Early life

Lee was born in Yilan in 1996 and began training in gymnastics at the age of six by joining his elementary school's gymnastics team.[2]

Career
Lee (center) with President Tsai Ing-wen and fellow Olympic medalist Tai Tzu-ying

2014

Lee competed at the Pacific Rim Championships and helped the Chinese Taipei team finish sixth. Individually, he finished thirteenth in the all-around and fourth on the vault.[3][4] He then represented Chinese Taipei at the 2014 Asian Games where the team finished sixth.[5] He then finished sixth in the all-around final.[6] In the event finals, he finished eighth on the floor exercise and fifth on the vault.[7][8] He then competed at the World Championships in Nanning where the Chinese Taipei team finished twenty-fourth.[9]

2015

Lee represented Chinese Taipei at the 2015 Summer Universiade and helped the team finish ninth.[10] Then at the World Championships in Glasgow where the Chinese Taipei team finished twenty-third.[11] Individually, Lee finished forty-second in the all-around and qualified for the 2016 Olympic Test Event.[12][13]

2016

In April, Lee competed at the Olympic Test Event where he finished forty-seventh in the all-around and qualified as an individual for the 2016 Olympic Games.[14][15] One month prior to the Olympics, Lee broke his foot and tore ligaments in his ankle, so he only competed on the pommel horse in Rio.[16] He finished thirty-first on the pommel horse in the qualification round and did not advance into the final. This marked Chinese Taipei's highest individual finish at the Olympic Games in gymnastics.[16]

2017

Lee was selected to represent Chinese Taipei at the 2017 Summer Universiade alongside Chen Jin-ling, Hsu Ping-chien, Tang Chia-hung, and Yu Chao-wei, and they finished fifth in the team competition. Individually, Lee qualified for the all-around final where he finished seventh with a total score of 82.600. Then in the pommel horse final, he won the gold medal with a score of 15.300.[17]

2018

Lee competed at the Pacific Rim Championships and won the bronze medal on the floor exercise behind Americans Akash Modi and Sam Mikulak. Then in the pommel horse final, he won the silver medal behind American Marvin Kimble. He won the gold medal on the vault with an average score of 14.450.[18] Then at the Melbourne World Cup, he won the silver medals on the pommel horse behind Nariman Kurbanov and on the vault behind Christopher Remkes.[19][20] Then at the Doha World Cup, he won the silver medal on the pommel horse behind Zou Jingyuan.[21] He won his first FIG World Cup title by winning the pommel horse title at the Osijek World Challenge Cup.[22]

Lee was selected to represent Chinese Taipei at the 2018 Asian Games alongside Chen Chih-yu, Shiao Yu-jan, Tang Chia-hung, and Yu Chao-wei, and they finished fourth in the team competition.[23] Lee finished fifth in the all-around with a total score of 81.900.[24] In the event finals, he finished fifth on floor and sixth on parallel bars, and he won the gold medal on the pommel horse.[25][26][27] At the World Championships, the Chinese Taipei team finished seventeenth in the qualification round.[28] Lee finished eighth in the pommel horse and qualified for the final with a score of 13.700.[29] He then won the bronze medal in the final behind Xiao Ruoteng and Max Whitlock. This was only the second medal Chinese Taipei had won at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the first since Chang Feng-chih won the silver medal on the vault in 1993.[30] After the World Championships, he won the gold medal on the pommel horse at the Cottbus World Cup.[31]

2019

Lee won the gold medal on the pommel horse at the Melbourne World Cup and at the Doha World Cup.[32][33] He then competed at the Asian Championships where the Chinese Taipei team won the bronze medal behind China and Japan. Individually, Lee won the gold medal in the all-around. In the event finals, he finished fifth on floor and sixth on pommel horse.[34] He then represented Chinese Taipei at the 2019 Summer Universiade alongside Hsu Ping-chien and Tang Chia-hung, and they won the team silver medal behind Japan.[35] Lee won the bronze medal in the all-around behind Kazuma Kaya and Ivan Stretovich.[36] He defended his Universiade tite on the pommel horse with a score of 15.400, 0.700 ahead of the silver medalist.[37] He competed at the World Championships alongside Hsu Ping-chien, Shiao Yu-jan, Tang Chia-hung, and Yu Chao-wei. The team finished eighth in the qualification round and qualified a team for the 2020 Olympic Games.[38] They also qualified for the team final where they finished sixth.[39] Lee finished twelfth in the all-around final with a total score of 83.798.[40] He won the silver medal in the pommel horse final behind Max Whitlock.[41]

2020

Lee finished eighth in the all-around at the American Cup.[42] He was scheduled to compete at the Tokyo World Cup taking place on 4 April.[43] However, the Tokyo World Cup was later canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak in Japan.[44]

2021
Lee with his Olympic silver medal

Lee was selected to represent Chinese Taipei at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside Hung Yuan-hsi, Shiao Yu-jan, and Tang Chia-hung. The team finished tenth in the qualification round, making them the second reserve for the team final.[45] Lee qualified for the all-around final in seventeenth place and for the pommel horse final in first place after beating Rhys McClenaghan and Kohei Kameyama in an execution score tiebreaker. In the all-around final, he finished twenty-first with a total score of 80.699.[46] Then in the pommel horse final, Lee won the silver medal behind Great Britain's Max Whitlock. Although Lee had the highest execution score in the final (8.700), but his difficulty score was 0.300 lower than Whitlock's, and he finished 0.183 behind Whitlock overall. This marked the first time Chinese Taipei won an Olympic medal in gymnastics.[47][48][49]

2022

Lee competed at the Asian Championships and helped the Chinese Taipei team win the bronze medal behind China and Japan. He finished eighth in the all-around with a total score of 82.000, and he finished fourth in the pommel horse final.[50] He withdrew from the 2022 World Championships after being named to the team.[51]

Media

Lee was featured in a 2005 documentary Jump! Boys which followed Lee and his elementary school gymnastics teammates. A follow-up documentary, Jump! Men, was released in 2017 and recapped Lee's journey to the 2016 Olympic Games.[2]

References
  1. "Lee Chih-kai". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  2. "Chih Kai Lee". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  3. "2014 Pacific Rim Championships April 9-12, 2014 – Richmond Olympic Oval Team Results Junior / Senior" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  4. "2014 Pacific Rim Championships April 9-12, 2014 – Richmond Olympic Oval Session MAG Senior Finals Senior" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. 12 April 2014. p. 4. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  5. "Gymnastics Artistic Men's Qualification And Team Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Incheon 2014. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  6. "Gymnastics Artistic Men's Individual All-Around Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Incheon 2014. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
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  8. "Gymnastics Artistic Men's Apparatus Final Vault" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Incheon 2014. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  9. "45th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Nanning (CHN) Men's Qualification" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  10. "Men's artistic team all-around Final" (PDF). Gwangju 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  11. "46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Glasgow (GBR) Men's Qualification" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  12. "46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Glasgow (GBR) Men's Qualification All-Around Results" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 25 October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  13. "Aquece Rio Final Gymnastics Qualifier Rio de Janeiro (BRA) (Test Event) 16 – 24 April 2016 Mens' Artistic Gymnastics Eligible Gymnasts / NOC to participate in the Test Event" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  14. "Artistic Gymnastics Men's Individual All-Around Qualification" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  15. "List of the Men's Artistic Gymnastics Tokyo 2016 Olympic Qualifiers" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
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  30. "Biles, Dalaloyan add more gold in historic day at Doha Worlds". International Gymnastics Federation. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  31. "Individual qualification for 2020 Olympics begins in Cottbus". International Gymnastics Federation. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  32. "Asian nations dominate Melbourne World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  33. "Chinese gymnasts claim three titles at Doha World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  34. Hopkins, Lauren (24 June 2019). "2019 Asian Championships Men's Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
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