Guo Jingjing

Guo Jingjing (Chinese: 郭晶晶; pinyin: Guō Jīngjīng; born October 15, 1981 in Baoding, Hebei) is a retired Chinese female diver, and multi-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion. Guo is tied with her partner Wu Minxia for winning the most Olympic medals (6) of any female diver[1] and she won the 3m springboard event at five consecutive World Championships. She announced her retirement in 2011.

Guo Jingjing

Personal information
Full name	Guo Jingjing
Born	(1981-10-15) October 15, 1981 Baoding, Hebei, China
Residence	Beijing
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Sport
Country	People's Republic of China
Event(s)	3m springboard, 3m synchro
Partner	Wu Minxia
Former partner(s)	Fu Mingxia
Medal record Olympic Games 2004 Athens Synchro Springboard 2004 Athens 3m Springboard 2008 Beijing Synchro Springboard 2008 Beijing 3m Springboard 2000 Sydney Synchro Springboard 2000 Sydney 3m Springboard World Championships 2001 Fukuoka 3m Springboard 2001 Fukuoka Synchro Springboard 2003 Barcelona 3m Springboard 2003 Barcelona Synchro Springboard 2005 Montréal 3m Springboard 2005 Montréal Synchro Springboard 2007 Melbourne 3m Springboard 2007 Melbourne Synchro Springboard 2009 Rome 3m Springboard 2009 Rome Synchro Springboard 1998 Perth 3m Springboard Asian Games 1998 Bangkok 3m Springboard 2002 Busan 3m Springboard 2002 Busan Synchro Springboard 2006 Doha Synchro Springboard Summer Universiade 2001 Beijing 1m Springboard 2001 Beijing 3m Springboard 2001 Beijing Platform Synchro 2003 Daegu Synchro Springboard 2005 Izmir 1m Springboard 2005 Izmir Synchro Springboard 2003 Daegu 1m Springboard 2003 Daegu 3m Springboard

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Guo.

Career

She took up diving when she was six years old at the Baoding Training Base.[2] She started training in competitive diving in 1988, and was selected to dive for the Chinese national team in 1992. Guo first competed at the Olympics in 1996.[3] Had she duplicated her performances from many other events, including the 1995 Chinese Nationals, 1995 Dive Canada, or 1996 Chinese Olympic Trials, she would have easily won gold ahead of teammate Fu Mingxia, but had a disastrous final, missing all 5 dives, and finished in 5th place. Her coach leading up to the 2008 Olympics was Zhong Shaozhen.

During the 2004 Summer Olympics she won a gold medal in the 3-meter women's synchronized springboard along with Wu Minxia, before winning her first individual Olympic gold in the 3-meter women's springboard.[4]

After the 2004 Summer Olympics, Guo became a Chinese national sports figure, with a contract with McDonald's, as well as multiple other endorsement contracts. She was later banned by the national team for excessive commercial activities, but was accepted back to the team when she agreed to focus on diving and give up many promotional activities.[5] She was also made to surrender nearly 4 million dollars she had earned from her endorsements. Tian Liang, a fellow Olympic gold medalist offered the same deal as Guo, declined to pay back the money to the government, and was excluded from the Olympic games. Guo is the leading member of the Chinese national women's diving team, and is known in China as "The Princess of Diving". Guo announced on November 23, 2006, she would retire following the 2008 Summer Olympics.[6]

Guo Jingjing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing

Guo won two more gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. At the end of the Beijing Games, Guo became the most decorated female Olympic diver,[7] and tied fellow Chinese athlete Fu Mingxia, and Americans Pat McCormick and Greg Louganis with the most gold medals (four).[8] Guo won the gold medal in the women's 3-meter springboard with a total of 415.35 points. The silver medal was awarded to Yuliya Pakhalina of Russia, whose score was 398.60, followed by Wu Minxia of China with 389.85 for the bronze medal.[9] In synchronized diving, the defending champions Guo, and Wu, who won the event in the 2004 Athens Olympics and three World Championships, had led the entire competition in Beijing, winning the gold medal, with Yuliya Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova of Russia, who posted 323.61, winning Silver.[10][11]

It was confirmed in January 2011 that Guo had decided to retire, and she would not compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was quoted as saying, "I think I have fulfilled my task, so the London Games is not what I have in mind now. The chances should be left to other talents in the team."[12]

Personal life

Guo's social activities after the Athens Olympics were the subject of scrutiny in Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong media news outlets.[13] Guo made entertainment headlines in China when the paparazzi published a photograph of her dining with Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, the grandson of the former Vice Chairman Henry Fok of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Guo did not deny the relationship, and has been photographed many times with Kenneth Fok in public.[14] The couple married in Hong Kong on November 8, 2012.

Major achievements

• 1995 World Cup – 1st Synchronized Platform & 3m Synchronized Springboard
• 1996 Olympic Games – 5th Platform
• 1998 World Championships – 2nd 3m Springboard
• 1999 World Cup – 1st 3m Synchronized Springboard; 3rd 3m Springboard
• 2000 World Cup – 1st 3m Springboard; 2nd 3m Synchronized Springboard
• 2000 Olympic Games – 2nd 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2001 World Championships – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2002 World Cup – 1st 1m & 3m Springboard; 2nd 3m Synchronized Springboard
• 2002 Asian Games – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2003 FINA Diving Grand Prix (Australia/China) – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2003 World Championships – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2004 World Cup – 1st 3m Synchronized Springboard; 2nd 3m Springboard
• 2004 Olympic Games – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2005 World Championships – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2006 Asian Games – 1st 3m Synchronized Springboard
• 2007 World Championships – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard
• 2008 Olympic Games 1st Women's 3m Synchronised Springboard
• 2008 Olympic Games 1st Women's 3m Springboard
• 2009 World Championships – 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard

References

1. BBC (August 17, 2008). "Guo may dive on after record gold". BBC. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
2. Yuan Yi (袁艺) (2008). "Guo Jingjing Behind the Beautiful Smile" 《美丽笑容背后的郭晶晶》. 《青年文摘》 [Youth Literary Digest] (in Chinese). Beijing: China Youth Press. pp. 55–58. ISBN 978-7-5006-6471-0.
3. "Guo Jingjing". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
4. Xinhua (2004). "After 8 years, Guo finally makes it in Olympics". China Daily. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
5. ESPN (2007). "Hanging by a Thread". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
6. Xinhua (2006). "Asian Games-bound diver Guo Jingjing to retire after 2008 Olympics". People's Daily. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
7. Lei Lei (2008). "Talkin' 'bout our generations of divers". China Daily. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
8. Canwest Publishing Inc.. (2008). "China's Guo claims gold, Olympic diving record". Canwest Publishing Inc. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
9. Associated Press (2008). "Guo golden again". NBC. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
10. Alan Paul. "China's beloved Guo adds to legacy". NBC. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
11. Beth Harris for the Associated Press (2008). "China Wins 1st Diving Medal at Beijing Olympics". ABC News. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
12. "Chinese diving queen Guo decides to retire". Xinhua News Agency. 2011-01-23. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
13. Echo Shan (2005). "Diving prince Tian Liang's new fling revealed in hot kiss". China Daily. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
14. Flora Bagenal (February 3, 2008). "Diving princess Guo Jingjing enters love's troubled waters" (ece). London: The Times. Retrieved 2008-02-28.

External links

• 2008 Beijing Olympics Diving News, images, and scores from NBC.
• "Guo Jingjing", number 9 on Time’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"