| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
 Lang Ping |
||
Competitor for the  People's Republic of China |
||
| Women's Volleyball | ||
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | Team |
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lang.
"Jenny" Lang Ping (Chinese: 郎平; pinyin: Láng Píng; born December 10, 1960 in Beijing), is a former Chinese volleyball player and the former head coach of the U.S. women's national volleyball team since. Her nickname is "Iron Hammer".[1] She was the U.S. Women's National volleyball team head coach for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In 2002, she became an inductee of the Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts.[2]
Contents |
Biography
Lang Ping was born in Beijing of Manchu ethnicity.
She moved to the United States to study and serve as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of New Mexico. When asked of her move, she said she wanted "to taste a normal life."[3] She has a 16-year old daughter, Lydia Bai, who is a member of the US Girl's Youth National Volleyball team.[4]
She maintains Chinese citizenship despite living in U.S for more than 15 years.[5]
Career
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 World Championship crown in 1982 in Peru and World Cup titles in 1981 and 1985.[6]
Legacy in China
In China, she is seen as an icon and is one of the most respected individuals in modern day China's sports history. To understand Ping's status in China, one needs to understand China's sporting history. At the end of the 1976 Cultural Revolution, China re-joined sports internationally. Though China won ping-pong internationally, ping-pong was a Chinese expertise. Ping and the women's volleyball team was the first team to win the World Championship multiple times, concluding with the 1984 Olympics. Ping was the star Striker on the team. She will always be remembered as one of the very first world Champions for China.[7]
Coaching
Lang Ping 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.[6] 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 the league championship and the coach of the year award multiple times.
After becoming the US coach in 2005, Lang guided the team to the 2008 Olympics, where the US team faced off with her home country China. The US team defeated China 3-2. The Chinese president Hu Jintao attended the match.[8] 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.
Major titles
- World Cup 1981 (World Champion)
- World Championship 1982 (World Champion)
- Los Angeles Olympic Games 1984 (World Champion)
- World Cup 1985 (World Champion)
Honors
- Chinese Top Ten Athletes of the year, 1981-1986
- FIVB Coach of the Year, 1996[2]
- Woman Volleyball Coach in Italy of the year, 1999-2000
References
- ^ Tabuchi, Hiroko (2008-08-09). "Return of the "Iron Hammer"". The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2008/08/09/return-of-the-iron-hammer/. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ a b c "China's Lang Ping gets U.S. volleyball post". USA Today. 2005-02-08. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/2005-02-08-notes-lang-volleyball_x.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ Townsend, Brad (2008-08-06). "Lang Ping left China for "normal life"". The Dallas Morning News. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/080608dnspoolyvolleyball.438a617.html?npc. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ "Lydia Bai Bio". http://www.usavolleyball.org/national/LydiaBaiBio.asp.
- ^ "Iron Hammer still pounding". China Daily. 2008-01-22. http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/90867/6342656.html. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ a b O'Halloran, Ryan (2008-08-15). "Lang Ping goes home". Washington Times. http://washtimes.com/news/2008/aug/15/us-coach-lang-ping-returns-to-native-land/. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ Lassen, David (2008-07-08). "U.S. women's volleyball coach an icon back in Beijing". Ventura County Star. http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jul/08/us-womens-volleyball-coach-an-icon-back-in/. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ Wong, Edward (2008-08-15). "Ex-Chinese Star Guides U.S. to Win in Volleyball". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/sports/olympics/16volleyball.html. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
External links
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