51 Facts About Laura Zeng

Laura Yihan Zeng is an American former individual rhythmic gymnast.

Laura Zeng represented the United States at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

Laura Zeng swept all of the events at the 2015 Pan American Games and at the 2018 Pan American Championships.

Laura Zeng is the 2014 Youth Olympic and 2019 Summer Universiade all-around bronze medalist and the 2019 Grand Prix Final hoop bronze medalist.

Laura Zeng is an eight-time national all-around champion, six times at the senior level and twice at the junior level.

Laura Zeng's sister Yecca is eight years older than her and is a fashion designer.

In 2018, Laura Zeng graduated from high school as a National Merit Scholar Finalist and committed to Yale University.

Laura Zeng enrolled at Yale in the fall of 2021 after taking three gap years to train for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Laura Zeng moved up to the Hopes division in 2011 and won the all-around gold medal at the Visa Championships.

Laura Zeng won the all-around silver medal in the junior division of the Rhythmic Challenge held in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Laura Zeng made her international debut at the 2012 Junior Pacific Rim Championships where she won the team gold medal and the all-around silver medal behind Canada's Patricia Bezzoubenko.

Laura Zeng then competed in the Dundee Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria and won the all-around bronze medal behind Aleksandra Soldatova and Zhena Trashlieva.

Laura Zeng began the 2013 season at the Rhythmic Challenge and won the all-around gold medal.

Laura Zeng then competed at the Gymnastik Schmiden International in Fellbach, Germany winning gold in all-around, hoop, clubs, ribbon and bronze in ball.

Laura Zeng won another all-around gold medal at the Rhythmic National Qualifier held in Deerfield, Illinois.

In 2014, Laura Zeng started her season competing at the Rhythmic Challenge winning the all-around and all four event titles.

At the 2014 Junior Pan American Championships, Laura Zeng swept all gold medals and won the United States a spot at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

Laura Zeng then traveled to Minsk to compete at the Crystal Rose Junior Tournament where she won team gold, ball and ribbon silver, and hoop and clubs bronze.

Laura Zeng defended her junior all-around title at the USA Gymnastics Championships.

Laura Zeng was selected as the sole representative of United States at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.

Laura Zeng placed second in the qualification round behind Russia's Irina Annenkova with a total score of 57.375.

Laura Zeng went on to take the all-around bronze in the finals with a total score of 56.750, just two hundredths behind Belarus' Mariya Trubach.

Laura Zeng won the all-around gold medal at the Rhythmic Challenge held in Lake Placid, New York.

Laura Zeng made her World Cup debut at the Lisbon World Cup and finished fourteenth in the all-around.

Laura Zeng then won her first senior national all-around title at the USA Gymnastics Championships, and she won the hoop, clubs, and ribbon titles.

At the Pan American Games, Laura Zeng swept the gold medals in the all-around and all the apparatus finals, becoming the second American to win the all-around and all the apparatus finals at the Pan American Games after Mary Sanders in 2003.

Laura Zeng was the most decorated athlete of the Pan American Games.

Laura Zeng was selected to compete in her first World Championships in Stuttgart alongside Jazzy Kerber, Camilla Feeley and Serena Lu.

Laura Zeng's results earned the United States an individual spot for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Laura Zeng began her 2016 season at the Rhythmic Challenge where she won the all-around gold medal.

Laura Zeng then won her second consecutive national all-around title and was selected to represent the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Laura Zeng's finish tied for the best for an American rhythmic gymnast with Valerie Zimring's eleventh-place finish at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Laura Zeng then participated at the MTM Ljubljana International Tournament and won the all-around gold medal.

Laura Zeng then finished tenth all-around, sixth in ball, and fifth in ribbon at the Guadalajara World Challenge Cup.

Laura Zeng secured her third consecutive senior national all-around title and won the clubs gold medal, the hoop and ribbon silver medals, and the ball bronze medal.

At the World Championships in Pesaro, Laura Zeng finished sixth in the all-around besting her own eighth-place finish in 2015 as the best-ever all-around finish for an American at the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships.

Laura Zeng began the 2018 season at the Rhythmic Challenge and won the all-around gold medal.

On October 18,2018, Laura Zeng tested positive for acetazolamide during out-of-competition testing.

Laura Zeng provided evidence to the United States Anti-Doping Agency that she was prescribed an altitude sickness medication containing acetazolamide while on vacation in Machupicchu, Peru believing it was ibuprofen.

Laura Zeng began her 2019 season at the Tashkent World Cup where she placed eighth in the all-around and clubs and sixth in ball.

Laura Zeng then won a bronze medal in hoop at the Baku World Cup behind Dina Averina and Linoy Ashram.

Laura Zeng won another hoop bronze medal at the Brno Grand Prix and placed fifth in ribbon and tenth in all-around.

Laura Zeng then competed at the USA Gymnastics Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, and won her fifth straight all-around national title and won hoop, ball, and clubs gold and ribbon bronze.

Laura Zeng won the all-around bronze medal at the Summer Universiade behind Ekaterina Selezneva and Zohra Aghamirova, and she finished fourth in the hoop, ball, and clubs final.

Laura Zeng finished sixth in the all-around at the Portimao World Challenge Cup, and she finished seventh in the hoop, ball, and clubs finals.

Laura Zeng won the all-around gold medal at the 2020 Rhythmic Challenge in Lake Placid, New York.

Laura Zeng returned to competition in February 2021 at the Rhythmic Challenge and won the all-around silver medal behind Evita Griskenas.

Laura Zeng finished sixth in hoop and ninth in all-around at the Baku World Cup.

Laura Zeng won the all-around at the 2021 USA Gymnastics Championships and was selected to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Laura Zeng announced her retirement from rhythmic gymnastics on her Instagram account on January 22,2022.

Laura Zeng is studying urban studies and cognitive science at Yale University and is a staff reporter for the student newspaper, Yale Daily News.