Li Continues Strong Comeback

After missing the past two world championships, Chinese star Li Xiaopeng proved he is on track for the Olympics with a 16.900 on parallel bars Thursday at the Chinese National Championships in Tianjin.

Li, a 12-time world medalist and two-time Olympic champion, has struggled with foot and ankle injuries over the past several years but made a successful return on vault in the men's qualification competition.

Li's 16.900 on parallel bars is likely a record, but he followed that with two breaks on high bar.

"For the past two years I have not participated in any national competitions, so there is a bit of stress," said Li, who will turn 27 in July. "After the competition I hope to be able to make a few good adjustments and improve in a short period of time."

Said head coach Huang Yubin said, "If Li Xiaopeng did not have any mistakes on high bar, today's competition could be called perfect. We allow athletes mistakes — errors in our preparation for the Olympic Games can be a good thing."

Li, the 1999, 2002 and 2003 world champion on vault, plans to challenge for the Olympic vault title in Beijing. In addition to his namesake vault — a Yurchenko half-on layout Randi off — he also has a second vault with a 7.0 A-panel score.

The high score of the day was a 17.100 on still rings from both Yang Wei and Chen Yibing.

Lu Bin, who won three golds at the 2007 "Good Luck Beijing" Tournament, is out of the race for the Olympics after suffering a dislocated and fractured elbow Saturday. Without Lu, China now has 10 male gymnasts in contention for the Olympic team: Li, Yang, Chen, Huang Xu, Feng Zhe, Feng Jing, Teng Haibin, Xiao Qin, Liang Fuliang and Zou Kai.

With the Olympics beginning in just over 90 days, Huang said that the team's next major task is to improve its consistency. China, the reigning world champion, is the heavy favorite to win the Olympic team title this summer in Beijing.

"In addition, injury prevention is also critical because these athletes are national treasures," he said. "After all, they are at the world's top level of difficulty."

Competition continues Friday in Tianjin with the men's and women's all-around final.

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