Fu Mingxia
| Fu Mingxia | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 16, 1978 Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China |
| Alma mater | Tsinghua University |
| Spouse(s) | Anthony Leung (m.2002–present) |
| Children | 3 |
| Fu Mingxia | |||||||
| Chinese | 伏明霞 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Fú Míngxiá |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Diving | ||
Representing  China
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| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1992 Barcelona | 10m Platform |
|
1996 Atlanta | 10m Platform |
|
1996 Atlanta | 3m Springboard |
|
2000 Sydney | 3m Springboard |
 |
2000 Sydney | Synchro Springboard |
| World Championships | ||
|
1991 Perth | 10m Platform |
|
1994 Rome | 10m Platform |
| Asian Games | ||
|
1990 Beijing | Team Event |
|
1994 Hiroshima | 3m Springboard |
 |
1990 Beijing | 10m Platform |
Fu Mingxia (born August 16, 1978 in Wuhan, Hubei, China) is a top female diver, multiple Olympic gold medalist and world champion. Chinese diver Fu Mingxia won the platform-diving world championship in 1991 at the age of 12, making her the youngest diving champ of all time. She is also famous for being one of the youngest Olympic-diving champions, having earned a gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games when she was just 13 years and 345 days old. Throughout the 1990s, Fu dominated the sport with her repertoire of extremely difficult dives. During the 2000 Olympics, held in Sydney, Australia, Fu won her fourth gold, joining Americans Pat McCormick and Greg Louganis as the world's only quadruple Olympic-diving champions.
Fu Mingxia was born into a working-class family in the city of Wuhan, located along the Yangtze River in central China. Inspired by an older sister, Fu enrolled in gymnastics at a local sports school at the age of 5. Though she was just a child, Fu demonstrated remarkable poise and body control. The coaches, however, felt that she was not flexible enough to make it as a gymnast. Instead, they suggested she pursue diving, though Fu, only about seven years old at the time, could not swim.
Fu made the transition from gymnast to springboard diver and before long was noticed by diving coach Yu Fen, who took Fu to Beijing in 1989 to train at a state-sponsored boarding school as a member of the state diving team. China prides itself in churning out athletic prodigies who can win international competitions and bolster the country's reputation. In China, it is common practice for children with athletic promise to be taken away from home at an early age to live at special sports schools where their talents can be refined. Fu was chosen for such a life. Because of her remarkable talents, she became a part of China's disciplined, but highly successful sports machine.
Through a strenuous training program, Fu learned to set aside her fears and progressed quickly. Typical of Chinese children at sports schools, her days were highly structured and sheltered, containing little more than diving practice and schooling. Training sessions averaged four to five hours a day, seven days a week, with the occasional nine-hour day. At times, Fu practiced 100 dives a day. In time, she was gliding so close to the platform during her dives that her short hair often touched the end during her descent toward the water.
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