Guo Jingjing
Encyclopedia
Guo Jingjing is a Chinese female diver
from the People's Republic of China
. She has won more Olympic medals than any other female diver and has won the 3m springboard event at five consecutive World Championships. She announced her retirement in 2011.
. 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.
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 later accepted back to the team when she agreed to focus on diving and give up many promotional activities. She was also made to surrender nearly 4 million dollars to the Chinese government, money that she had earned while doing these endorsements. Tian Lian a fellow Olympic gold medalist was offered the same deal that jingjing was offered, however 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, that she would retire following the 2008 Summer Olympics
.
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, and tied fellow Chinese athlete Fu Mingxia
, and Americans Pat McCormick
and Greg Louganis
with the most gold medals (four). 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. 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.
It was confirmed in January 2011 that Guo has decided to retire, and she will 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."
published a photograph of her dining with Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, the grandson of the late Hong Kong business tycoon Henry Fok
. Guo did not deny the relationship, and has been photographed many times with Kenneth Fok in public.
Guo, along with other divers on her team, suffers from diving-related health problems such as poor eyesight.
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
from the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. She has won more Olympic medals than any other female diver and has won the 3m springboard event at five consecutive World Championships. She announced her retirement in 2011.
Career
She took up diving when she was six years old at the 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 19961996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
. Her coach leading up to the 2008 Olympics was Zhong Shaozhen.
During the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
She won a gold medal in the 3 meter women's synchronized springboard along with Wu Minxia
Wu Minxia
Wu Minxia is a female diver from the People's Republic of China.Wu represented China at the 2004 Summer Olympics, earning a gold medal in the 3 metre women's synchronized springboard along with Guo Jingjing before winning a silver medal in the 3 metre women's springboard, coming in second place...
, 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
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, as well as multiple other endorsement contracts. She was later banned by the national team for excessive commercial activities, but was later accepted back to the team when she agreed to focus on diving and give up many promotional activities. She was also made to surrender nearly 4 million dollars to the Chinese government, money that she had earned while doing these endorsements. Tian Lian a fellow Olympic gold medalist was offered the same deal that jingjing was offered, however 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, that she would retire following the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
.
Guo won two more gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. At the end of the Beijing Games, Guo became the most decorated female Olympic diver, and tied fellow Chinese athlete Fu Mingxia
Fu Mingxia
Fu Mingxia . She is a top female diver, multiple Olympic gold medalist and world champion. She is about 1.58m tall .-Early life and career:...
, and Americans Pat McCormick
Pat McCormick (diver)
Patricia Joan McCormick is a retired female diver from the United States, who won a total number of four gold medals by winning both diving events at two consecutive Summer Olympics ....
and Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis
Gregory "Greg" Efthimios Louganis is an American Olympic diver and author.He received the James E. Sullivan Award from the Amateur Athletic Union in 1984 as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States....
with the most gold medals (four). 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. 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.
It was confirmed in January 2011 that Guo has decided to retire, and she will not compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. 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."
Personal life
Guo's social activities after the Athens Olympics were the subject of scrutiny in Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong media news outlets. Guo made entertainment headlines in China when the paparazziPaparazzi
Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people...
published a photograph of her dining with Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, the grandson of the late Hong Kong business tycoon Henry Fok
Henry Fok
Henry Fok Ying Tung was a Hong Kong businessman. He has ancestral roots in Nansha, Panyu, now part of Guangzhou, Guangdong). Fok was the vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of PRC since March 1993, and was possibly the most powerful...
. Guo did not deny the relationship, and has been photographed many times with Kenneth Fok in public.
Guo, along with other divers on her team, suffers from diving-related health problems such as poor eyesight.
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 GamesDiving at the 2000 Summer OlympicsAt the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, eight diving events were contested for the first time due to the inclusion of synchronized variants for each of the traditional events...
– 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 GamesDiving at the 2004 Summer OlympicsAt the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, eight diving events were contested during a competition that took place at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, from 20 to 28 August , comprising a total of 125 divers from 30 nations.-Men:-Women:-Medal table:-Participating nations:Here are listed the nations that...
– 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard - 2005 World Championships2005 World Aquatics ChampionshipsThe 2005 World Aquatics Championships or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005...
– 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard - 2006 Asian GamesDiving at the 2006 Asian GamesDiving was contested at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar from December 10 to December 14. Men's and women's individual and synchronized events were held...
– 1st 3m Synchronized Springboard - 2007 World ChampionshipsDiving at the 2007 World Aquatics ChampionshipsThe diving competition at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships was held from March 19 to March 26.- Medals table :- Medal summary :...
– 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
External links
- 2008 Beijing Olympics Diving News, images, and scores from NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. - "Guo Jingjing", number 9 on TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"