Springboard, Women

Guo Jingjing was entered, therefore Guo Jingjing won. Guo had won silver on springboard at the 2000 Olympics but had since completely dominated the springboard, winning Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, with five consecutive World Championships – 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009. In all those years she also won gold on the synchronized springboard. The only suspense in Beijing was that earlier in the year she had been defeated at the 2008 World Cup by her teammate (and synchro partner) Wu Minxia. But “The Diving Queen” took the lead on the first dive of the final round and held it throughout to defend her Olympic title. Wu placed third, also trailing Russia’s Yuliya Pakhalina.

This gold gave Guo four gold medals and six medals in all, with the six Olympic medals a record for female divers at the Olympics. Her four gold medals is equaled by Pat McCormick and Fu Mingxia, and by men, Greg Louganis. This title also marked the sixth consecutive for Chinese women on springboard, although they were won by only three divers – Gao Min (1988-92), Fu (1996-2000), and Guo (2004-08).