(28 July 1996; Day 09)
Strong, aggressive, fearless, these are not words one would expect to hear about a female athlete who stands just 5'2" tall and weighs 126 ponds dripping wet. These are the qualities which has made FU Mingxia of China the most feared and respected diver in the world.
Over the past four years, FU has entered four major diving competitions and won three. Her only slip was a second place finish at the IX Diving World Cup in 1995 held in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. On 27 July 1996, she returned to that same venue and destroyed the competition enroute to her second Olympic gold medal on the 10m platform.
Her resume began in 1991 at the FINA World Championships when at age 12, she won the gold medal on the 10m platform, becoming the youngest world champion in diving history. Immediately following the competition, FINA invoked a rule change to set a minimum age of 14, in the year of competition, in order to compete. A year later in Barcelona, she captivated a world-wide audience by becoming the youngest diver, at age 13, to ever win a diving gold medal. Atlanta, she outdistanced her nearest competitor by 28.56 points, becoming the first woman to repeat in the 10m platform in 40 years. Pat MCCORMICK (USA). was the last diver to achieve the feat, winning gold medals in 1952 and 1956.
FU's success has been the result of many hours of sacrifice which began at the age of 7. FU originally was a gymnast, but was not considered a world class performer so was asked to leave the Chinese gymnastic school. She turned to diving and refined her gymnastic skills, plummeting 10 meters (32 ft. 8 in.) off a cement platform, hitting the water at 30 miles per hour, before she could swim. From her very first dive, she was considered fearless, a quality her current coach YU Fen calls her greatest asset. This asset has also been recognized by her teammates with the nickname they have bestowed upon her "Air FU."
FU's performance in Atlanta was no fluke.
"Before the Olympics, I concentrated on the training. We had training every day except Sunday," stated FU. "We have training on the ground and training in the water for about seven hours per day.".
She has grown and inch and added 30 pounds since her gold medal in Barcelona, which her coaches say makes her more suitable for springboard diving. At age 17 she is far from her prime. In fact she may just be entering her prime in the springboard competition. Since 1993, she has trained extensively on the 3-meter springboard. She brought credibility to her abilities by capturing the gold medal on the 3m at the 1995 FINA World Cup. Needless to say, FU is considered a strong medal contender in the 3m springboard which will begin on 30 July. If she wins a gold medal, she will tie the great Klaus DIBIASI (ITA) for second place on the all-time list for most gold medals with three. Greg LOUGANIS (USA) leads the category with four gold medals, two in 1984 and 1988.
With Sydney just four years away, FU will only be 21 years old. A repeat in Sydney on the 10m platform would tie her with DIBIASI (ITA) who is the only diver, man or woman, to win gold medals in three Olympiads and is considered by many as the greatest diver of all-time.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by David Blanchard
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| The volunteer staff of the 1996 Olympic Games totaled 50,152. They worked an estimated 850,000 shifts. |