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Will Guo take plunge again in 2012?

By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-08 08:58

China's diving queen, Guo Jingjing, claimed her fifth World Championship title at the Rome Worlds in July as the national team continued its domination on the world stage.

Guo won the 3m springboard individual and synchronized events in Rome to become the first diver to win both events at five consecutive Worlds. Besides that, she won all the five competitions she participated in throughout 2009, proving herself to be the most successful Chinese diver in history.

At the end of the year, the 28-year-old veteran applied for a well-earned rest, which has been considered by some as a step towards retirement.

If Guo does decide to step down from the platform, a group of young divers appears ready to take her place and bring more glory to the world diving powerhouse.

World champion He Zi, 18, is one of the leading springboard divers but she needs more work to become a consistent winner. At the Rome Worlds, she was beaten by veteran Yulia Pakhalina in the women's 1m springboard, although she defeated the Russian in a 3m event in April.

On men's side, the 10m platform remains the weakest point of the "dream team". Chinese divers have missed out on gold in that event in nearly all of the world's top competitions, including the 2007 World Championships, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and last year's Rome Worlds.

China's Qiu Bo was beaten by 15-year-old Brit Thomas Daley at the Worlds and had to settle for silver.

"Winning the gold medal is not as easy as you think," said China's national team manager, Zhou Jihong. "The overall strength of many countries is very high right now, especially on the men's side."