University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Alumna Anna Li Selected as Alternate For U.S. Olympic Team
July 01, 2012 | Gymnastics
July 1, 2012
Eight-time All-American and 2011 World Championship gold medalist Anna Li was selected as a replacement athlete for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team at the conclusion of the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday evening.
Li had a fantastic showing in the final day of competition, recording the third-best bars score of the evening (15.55) and adding a solid 14.5 score on beam. She had the highest D (difficulty) score (6.9) on any event with her uneven bars routine and the second-highest E (execution) score (9.0) on balance beam.
Named to the five-person Olympic team were Gabrielle Douglas, who won the all-around at the Trials, Jordyn Wieber, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney. Li, Elizabeth Price and Sarah Finnegan were selected as the alternates.
Li becomes the third UCLA gymnast to make the Olympic team either during or after her collegiate career, joining 2004 Olympians Mohini Bhardwaj, who was captain of the U.S. team three years after her senior year at UCLA, and Kate Richardson, who made her second Canadian Olympic team after her junior year. No other NCAA gymnastics team in the nation has ever produced that many collegiate or post-collegiate Olympians.
This will be the eighth consecutive Olympics in which a UCLA gymnast has participated. Li joins 15 other Bruin gymnasts (12 competitors and three alternates) as Olympians.
Li's parents and coaches, Jiani Wu and Yuejiu Li, both competed for China at the 1984 Olympics in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.
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