Lori Fung Methorst, (馮黎明; born February 21, 1963) is a Canadian gymnastics coach and retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She won the gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics, the year the sport was introduced to the Olympics.
Early life
Fung was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Her father is Chinese, and her mother is Japanese. She was part of her elementary school gymnastics club. One of her teachers noticed her level of skill and suggested she try rhythmic gymnastics. She began training in the sport in 1976.
Career
Fung began artistic gymnastics in 1976 but soon switched to rhythmic gymnastics. Although she was considered a late starter in the sport, she was very passionate about training and progressed unusually quickly. She completed her high school education by distance education due to her demanding training schedule.
Fung trained with Romanian rhythmic gymnast Doina Stăiculescu who was, as a result of the boycott, the highest ranking rhythmic gymnast competing at the inaugural Olympic event. Fung finished in third place during qualification behind Stăiculescu and her Romanian teammate, Aline Dragan, who finished first and second respectively. Her gold medal was initially missed by Canadian journalists, many of whom had gone out for dinner instead of covering the event; although they had checked the leader board before leaving, her country was incorrectly listed as China instead of Canada.
One contributing factor to her win was her ribbon routine. The strong breeze created by the air conditioning caused issues for all gymnasts during their ribbon routines, though the organizers would not turn it down for fear that the computers used for scoring would overheat. She went on to become a coach, including a role as national team coach for Canada, and to co-own a Vancouver gymnastics club. They have three children.
- In 1985, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
- In 1990, she was awarded the Order of British Columbia.