Chinese Olympic champions to take part in gymnastics World Cup finals -- china.org.cn

Chinese Olympic champions Cheng Fei and He Kexin will be among a star-studded line-up at the gymnastics World Cup finals next month in Madrid, organizers said on Sunday.

Cheng Fei of China performs on the vault to win the gold medal in the women's final at the 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart September 8, 2007.

Cheng Fei of China performs on the vault to win the gold medal in the women's final at the 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart September 8, 2007.[Xinhua/Reuters File Photo]

Romanian veteran Sandra Izbasa will also be taking part in the Dec.12-14 event.

Tomita Hiroyuki, member of the Japanese team, which won gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics, recently announced he would retire after the Madrid finals.

"I am feeling weaker every year and every time it is harder for me to perform the kind of artistic gymnastic that I want. I have had a great career," said the 27-year-old Hiroyuki.

Other big names including Russian Anton Golotsutskov and Elena Zamolodchikova, Dutch Suzanne Harmes, Yuri van Gelder and Jeffrey Wammes, will also be present in Madrid.

The organizing committee said that the best eight male and female athletes in the official ranking of the International Federation of Gymnastics will attend.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2008)