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After its seven-gold-medal performance at the Beijing Games in 2008, the Chinese men's gymnastics team was hit with a wave of retirements.

There have been times in the ensuing years when Chen Yibing wished he would've been among them.

And yet here he is, the defending champion in the rings and the team competition, back in London as the core of a young team.

Even now, Chen admits he's worried he'll end his career on a sour note. Doubt began creeping in back in 2009, when he could only claim bronze in the rings at the National Games, and was disqualified in the finals of the World Championships a month later.

"I was busy in various activities and loose in training after the Olympic Games. When I restarted my training in 2009, different problems came to me, one after another," Chen said. "I received too much applause and too many flowers after the Olympics. I was a little lost and didn't train as hard as before."

In the midst of all that, Chen was appointed captain of the Chinese men's gymnastics team at the end of 2009.

"The trust of (head coach Huang Yubin) was a boost to me. I felt the power and confidence I had lost come back to me again. The team needed me and I had to shoulder the responsibility," Chen said.

Chen was back.

He won gold medals at the 2010 Rotterdam World Championship, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the 2011 Tokyo World Championship.

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