China's Qiu Qiyuan shows her gold medal of the uneven bars exercise during the apparatus finals at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Oct 7, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

BEIJING -- The Roll of Honor of the Chinese Gymnastics Team embraced a new member, 16 year-old Qiu Qiyuan, here on Friday.

The Chinese Gymnastics Team collected the pictures of all the world title winners on the Board of Honor inside the national training venue, with their names and achievements printed below.

China always organized competitions perfectly anytime anywhere... China is now a kingdom of gymnastics in the world. Without China, the world of gymnastics would not exist. 

Morinari Watanabe, President of International Gymnastics Federation 

Qiu became the 83rd world champion on the Roll by winning the title of women's uneven bars at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium last month.

"I'm so happy to send my best wishes on the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Gymnastics Team, with a precious gold medal. It is a breakthrough of my career and a start of a new journey," said Qiu.

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Five representatives of the first generation of Team China attended the ceremony. The 89-year-old Lan Yalan recalled the thrill of having their first floor equipment.

"We got four little carpets and sewed them into a 12 square meters floor mat. You can't imagine how happy we were when it was finished," said Lan. "We never gave up chasing our dreams, even under such difficult situation."

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Li Ning, Li Xiaoshuang, Cheng Fei, He Kexin and dozens of other famous Olympic gold medalists also attended the ceremony.

Qiu Qiyuan of China competes on the uneven bars during the Women's Qualifications at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Oct 2, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

"We all really miss the old time inside this gym when we were young," said Li Ning, who won three Olympic gold medals in 1984 and now became a successful businessman. "The spirit of surpassing one's own limit encouraged me to welcome new challenges."

President of International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) Morinari Watanabe offered congratulations for the success of the Chengdu Universiade and Hangzhou Asian Games.

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"China always organized competitions perfectly anytime anywhere," said Watanabe. "China is now a kingdom of gymnastics in the world. Without China, the world of gymnastics would not exist."

Watanabe hoped the Chinese gymnastics would unite together to promote the development over the entire Asia and the entire world, and to make more profound achievements.