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SPORTS> Celebrity
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Guo Jingjing
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2012-08-22 15:23 Guo Jingjing maybe the most well-known Chinese diver in the last decade. Guo used to be the leading member of the Chinese national women's diving team, and is dubbed as "The Queen of Diving" in China. She took up diving when she was six years old at Baoding Training Base. 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. 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. After the 2004 Summer Olympics, Guo became a Chinese national sports figure in the public eye, 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 in the team when she agreed to focus on diving and give up many promotional activities. Guo won two more gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She won the gold medal in synchronized diving and the women's 3-meter springboard, with a total of 415.35 points. At the end of the Beijing Games, Guo became the most decorated female Olympic diver, and tied with fellow Chinese athlete Fu Mingxia, and Americans Pat McCormick and Greg Louganis with the most gold medals (four). Guo completed her fifth consecutive championship in the women's 3-meter springboard in 2009 World Aquatics Championships, becoming the first in the event’s history. Thanks largely to Guo's frequent exposure in the media, diving become a star event for Chinese sports fans. Guo was named as one of the 20 Best Female Athletes in 2008 by The Associated Press and the 2008 Best Female by FINA. The diver was not only well-known in the sports circle but also became a hot topic in the entertainment industry after she was reported to be dating Kenneth Fok, son of Timothy Fok from Hong Kong's rags-to-riches Fok family. Guo was in big demand with large companies. Her commercial value has surpassed any female Chinese athlete after wining two gold medals in the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games, becoming the real No 1 female athlete in China. Even a sportswear with her signature was sold at the high price of 119,000 yuan at a charity auction. According to a report by Century Weekly, Guo became the third richest Chinese athlete in 2008, earning 15 million yuan during that year, following Yao Ming and Liu Xiang, and overtaking Yi Jianlian (the second most successful Chinese NBA player). Guo finally submitted her retirement application on Jan 23, 2011 and ended her diving career. |
