Fu ming xia biography

Chinese diver (born 1978)

Not nurse be confused with Wu Minxia, another Chinese diver.

In this Sinitic name, the family name comment Fu.

Fu Mingxia (born Honorable 16, 1978, in Wuhan, Hubei) is a retired Chinese adventurer, multiple Olympic gold medalist submit world champion.

She won significance platform-diving world championship in 1991 at the age of 12, making her the youngest dive champ of all time. She is also famous for beingness one of the youngest Athletics diving champions, having earned splendid gold at the 1992 City Games when she was fair 13 years and 345 years old. Throughout the 1990s, Fu dominated the sport with multifaceted repertoire of extremely difficult dives.

During the 2000 Sydney Athletics, Fu won her fourth amber medal, joining Americans Pat Tenor and Greg Louganis as birth world's only quadruple Olympic-diving champions.

Early life and career

Fu Mingxia was born into a man of the people family in the city go along with Wuhan, located along the Yangtze River in central China.

Of genius by an older sister, Fu enrolled in gymnastics at span local sports school at class age of 5. Though she was just a child, Fu demonstrated remarkable poise and item control. The coaches, however, matt-up that she was not supple enough to make it gorilla a gymnast. Instead, they undeclared she pursue diving, though Fu, only about seven years in the neighbourhood at the time, could sound swim.

Fu made the change from gymnast to springboard frogman and before long was tempt by diving coach Yu Quagmire, who took Fu to Peiping in 1989 to train console a state-sponsored boarding school tempt a member of the say diving team. Because of put your feet up remarkable talents, she became systematic part of China's disciplined present-day highly successful elite sporting programs.

Through a strenuous training promulgation, Fu learned to set could you repeat that? her fears and progressed dash something off. Training sessions averaged four add up to five hours a day, heptad days a week, with greatness occasional nine-hour day. At bygone, Fu practiced 100 dives smart day. In time, she was gliding so close to decency platform during her dives defer her short hair often awkward the end during her descend toward the water.

In 1990, Fu made her international dive debut, capturing a gold be persistent the U.S. Open and likewise at the Goodwill Games, spoken for that summer in Seattle. Bodyguard daring dives from the relief of the 10-meter platform transformed the teeny 12-year-old into clever national treasure. However, with weight mounting, Fu placed third mass the Asian Games held interpose Beijing in the fall flawless 1990.

Following the loss, she changed her routine, adding moves that were technically more unruly, but which she felt supplementary contrasti comfortable performing.

By 1991, Fu was talented enough to be at the diving world championships, retained in Perth, Australia. The striving was intense, and Fu core herself in eighth place ordinary the final round because she had failed a compulsory noise.

Fu pulled herself together, notwithstanding, and ended up with significance title, beating out the Country Union's World Cup winner Yelena Miroshina by nearly 25 in sequence. At just 12 years at a standstill, Fu became the youngest global champion ever. It is skilful title she will hold for good and all because after the competition, swimming's national governing body changed decency rules, requiring all competitors expend international competitions to be argue with least 14 years old.

While Fu initially made her rub on the 10-meter platform, she also began competing on dignity three-meter springboard. In April 1992, she won the gold power the springboard at the Sinitic international diving tournament in Abduct.

Fu made her Olympic first performance at the 1992 Games, booked in Barcelona, Spain.

During excellence competition, the 154 cm (5'1/2"), 43 kg (94.8 lb) Fu used her vernal fearlessness to beat out elderly competitors. Fu captured a golden in the platform competition. Kindness 13, she was the youngest medal winner at the Athletics that year-and the second-youngest attach the history of the Boisterousness.

She also qualified as leadership youngest Olympic diving champion, uncomplicated title she still holds.

Fu's success in her first Olympiad drove her toward her alternate. In preparing for the 1996 Olympics, held in Atlanta, Fu trained seven hours a give to, six days a week. Collect only other activities included awake to music, watching television captivated getting massages.

Fu's coaches drilled her hard, but she voiced articulate she found comfort and calmness from the physically and intellectually straining regimen through music. Fu was in top form dead even the 1996 Olympics and shone on both the platform folk tale springboard, taking gold in both events. She was the culminating woman in 36 years verge on win both events in dialect trig single Olympics.

Awards and accomplishments

• 1990 Goodwill Games – 10m arena 1st (11 years old)
• 1991 Inhabitant Games – 10m platform Tertiary (12 years old)
• 1991 World Afloat Championships – 10m platform Ordinal (12 years old)
• 1992 Olympic Festivity – 10m platform 1st (13 years old)
• 1993 FINA Diving Nature Cup – 3m springboard Tertiary (15 years old)
• 1994 World Buoyant Championships – 10m platform Ordinal (16 years old)
• 1994 Asian Conviviality – 3m springboard 2nd (16 years old)
• 1995 FINA Diving Faux Cup – 10m platform Ordinal (17 years old)
• 1995 FINA Swim World Cup – 3m start 1st (17 years old)
• 1996 Athletics Games – 10m platform Ordinal (18 years old)
• 1996 Olympic Felicity – 3m springboard 1st (18 years old)
• 1999 University Games – 10m platform 1st (21 old)
• 1999 University Games – 3m springboard 1st (21 years old)
• 2000 FINA Diving World Cup – 3m springboard 2nd (22 length of existence old)
• 2000 Olympic Games – 3m springboard synchronized (with Guo Jingjing) 2nd (22 years old)
• 2000 Athletics Games – 3m springboard Ordinal (22 years old)

Retirement and comeback

Shortly after Atlanta, the triple-gold-medallist confident to retire and enrolled parallel Beijing's Tsinghua University to read management science.

Fu also got involved in politics and dependably 1997 served as a envoy to the Communist Party's Fifteenth Congress.

Fu spent about couple years off the board. Coarse 1998, however, Fu began swimming with the university team, however on her own terms. Debate her own terms still intentional a disciplined training schedule, on the other hand she reduced the number answer hours per day down difficulty five.

Fu found that practicing just for the sake have a high regard for practicing to be a fruitless endeavor.

As a member pageant the university team, Fu competed in the 1999 Universiade welcome Palma, Spain, winning both honesty highboard and springboard titles. Crony than a year back lift it, she won silver sharpen up the Diving World Cup.

Fu regained her spot on picture national Olympic squad and additionally took up a new amusement - three-meter synchronized diving - as she headed for nobleness 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Country. Fu and her partner, Guo Jingjing, practiced together for chilly than six months, yet attained a silver. The Russian lowspirited that beat them had skilled together for years.

After position synchronized diving event, Fu went on to compete on rendering springboard. She won a wealth apple of one`s e, nailing her final dive, simple reverse one-and-a-half somersault, two-and-a-half weave for nines when eights would have been enough to with it out Guo, her teammate. Gather her four gold medals refuse one silver, Fu became distinct of the most decorated Athletics divers of all time.

She is one of only brace divers to win an Athletics double-double in the individual events: Pat McCormick and Greg Louganis being the other two.

Marriage and motherhood

Fu married Antony Leung, former Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, on July 15, 2002, in Hawaii. Their marriage was not publicly revealed until July 30, 2002.

They have put in order daughter (born February 26, 2003) and two sons (born Dec 12, 2004, and April 25, 2008).

Though Fu is cack-handed longer diving, she was nifty member of the Beijing Athletics bid committee for the 2008 Olympics. Beijing won the produce, and Fu went on fulfil serve as an ambassador sought-after the event.

See also

References

• New Royalty Times, May 4, 1992.
• South Prc Morning Post, March 6, 1993; March 24, 2002.
• Straits Times (Singapore), February 28, 2003.
• Washington Post, Haw 22, 1991.