Guo Jingjing ( zh, c=郭晶晶, p=Guō Jīngjīng; born October 15, 1981, in

Baoding Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban distri ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

) is a retired Chinese diver, and multi-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion. Guo is tied with her partner

Wu Minxia Wu Minxia (; born 10 November 1985) is a retired Chinese diver, specializing in the 1 metre and 3 metre springboard, and synchronized 3 metre springboard events. Entering her first major championship in 2001, Wu represented China at every Asi ...

for winning the most

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

medals (6) of any female diver and she 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

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. 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 The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

she won a gold medal in the 3-meter women's synchronized springboard along with

, 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, with a contract with

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, 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. She was also made to surrender nearly 4 million dollars she had earned from her endorsements.

Tian Liang Tian Liang ( zh, c=田亮, p=Tián Liàng; born August 27, 1979) is a Chinese actor and former diving (sport), diver. Diving career Tian won gold in the 10 m platform event in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In the Summer Olympics 2004, he won th ...

, 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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. Guo won two more gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. At the end of the Beijing Games, Guo became the most decorated female Olympic diver, and tied fellow Chinese athlete

Fu Mingxia Fu Mingxia (born August 16, 1978, in Wuhan, Hubei) is a retired Chinese diver, multiple Olympic gold medalist and world champion. She won the platform-diving world championship in 1991 at the age of 12, making her the youngest diving champ ...

, and Americans Pat McCormick and

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic Diving (sport), diver who won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second ...

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 Yuliya Vladimirovna Pakhalina (, born 12 September 1977) is a Russian diver. She won the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 3m Synchronized Springboard with partner Vera Ilyina. Biography Yuliya Pakhalina was born in Penza. In 1 ...

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 had decided to retire, and she would not compete in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. 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." In 2016, she and her husband

Kenneth Fok Kenneth Fok Kai-kong Justice of Peace, JP (; born 2 July 1979) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician. The eldest grandson of tycoon Henry Fok and eldest son of Timothy Fok, he is Legislative_Council_of_Hong_Kong, a member of the Legislative ...

participated in ''

The Amazing Race China 3 ''The Amazing Race China 3'' () is the third season of ''The Amazing Race China'' (), a Chinese reality competition show based on the American series ''The Amazing Race (American TV series), The Amazing Race''. Hosted by Singapore based Chinese-A ...

'', based on a

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

's travel-reality program of the same name. After competing ten Olympic-themed legs, they emerged as the winning team of the season.

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

paparazzi Paparazzi (singular form paparazzo) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people, such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities who go about their daily life routines. Paparazzi are known f ...

published a photograph of her dining with

Kenneth Fok Kai-kong Kenneth Fok Kai-kong JP (; born 2 July 1979) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician. The eldest grandson of tycoon Henry Fok and eldest son of Timothy Fok, he is a member of the Legislative Council for the Sports, Performing Arts, Culture ...

, the grandson of Hong Kong tycoon

Henry Fok Henry Fok Ying Tung (10 May 1923 – 28 October 2006) was an entrepreneur and politician in Hong Kong. From 1993 until his death, Fok served as Vice Chairman of the 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. The couple married in Hong Kong on November 8, 2012. On August 27, 2013, Guo gave birth to a baby boy. She had a second baby, a girl, on April 21, 2017, and a third baby, another daughter, on January 1, 2019. During Guo's history in diving, including long-term high-pressure training, damaged her knees, her retina and contributed to her myopia. In September 2008, Guo had to undergo surgery to repair a detached retina in both her eyes and her surgery was undertaken by Hong Kong ophthalmologist Dennis Lam. Earlier in 2001, she underwent surgery to repair a detached retina in her right eye, but spent only a few months out of the water. Since then, her eyesight has declined markedly.

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 The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

– 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

– 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard *2005

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

– 1st 3m Springboard & Synchronized Springboard *2006

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

– 1st 3m Synchronized Springboard *2007

– 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

External links

*
"Guo Jingjing", number 9 on ''Time''’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Jingjing 1981 births Living people Divers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic divers for China Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic silver medalists for China Sportspeople from Baoding Olympic medalists in diving Chinese female divers Asian Games medalists in diving Divers at the 1998 Asian Games Divers at the 2002 Asian Games Divers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Summer World University Games medalists in diving FISU World University Games gold medalists for China FISU World University Games silver medalists for China Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade The Amazing Race contestants Reality show winners The Amazing Race winners