Here, she pioneered the exceptionally difficult and innovative 11⁄4 turn on back in kip position, to which the skill is named after her.

Li made her international debut at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, USA, where she wowed the world with her trademark 11⁄4 back spin on the beam, as well as a rare German giant into a Tkatchev on the uneven bars.

At the 1992 Olympic Games, Li finished 14th in the all-round, and made the bars final where she placed eighth (9.887).

She was in contention to win the beam gold in the event finals, but after a mistake on her Yang Bo jump, she decided to duplicate the element and as a result went over-time, which cost her two-tenths of a point and dropped her to fourth place (9.600).

Another favorite for the gold, Shannon Miller, had a disastrous performance, falling from the beam twice and sitting on her dismount (7.850).