Li Ning, ex-gymnast and now a successful entrepreneur, was selected as the main torchbearer at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, according to a press released just seen on the Games' Info system.

Li Ning performs his routine on the pommel horse at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in this 1984 file photo. [Xinhua]

There will be eight torchbearers in all for the last stage of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, which is expected to enter the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing for the cauldron lighting at the end of the Games' opening ceremony.

The seven others are shooter Xu Haifeng, diver Gao Min, Gymnast Li Xiaoshuang, weightlifter Zhan Xugang, badminton player Zhang Jun, taekwondo athlete Chen Zhong, and volleyball player Sun Jinfang, all Olympic champions of the country who had achieved great sports feats in their career.

Li won three gold, two silver and one bronze medal in men's gymnastics at the 23rd Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. He became the only Asian member of the International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission in 1987, according to a brief profile seen on the Info.