Guo not done making a big splash

By Yu Yilei (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-19 09:56

Guo Jingjing is voted one of China's best looking female athletes.

In many ways, diving diva Guo Jingjing has all it takes to be a true celebrity.

First, she has the looks, having been voted one of China's best looking female athletes.

Second, she has four Olympic gold medals, making her the most successful Chinese diver alongside Fu Mingxia.

Third, she has a wealthy boyfriend, the grandson of late Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok, and is expected to marry him soon.

With such qualities, many athletes would be dying to quit and live life as a celebrity like Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova did. But for the 27-year-old from Hebei province, who has spent the last 20 years diving, being an athlete still fascinates her.

"I am not calling it quits," she said while shooting a Coca-Cola commercial this week.

"I have not thought about retirement. I still have many things to do as a member of the Chinese diving team."

Guo's likely retirement has become a national topic since she finished the Beijing Olympics with two golds from the women's springboard individual and synchronized competitions.

There has been speculation she will retire and move to the special administrative region after marrying her Hong Kong-based boyfriend, Kenneth Fok Kai-kong

She is also rumored to have a severe eye problem, which forced her into a long break after the Olympics so she could seek surgery in Hong Kong.

However, Guo seems immune to such a life under scrutiny.

"I am just enjoying my break after the Olympic Games and I want to relax," she says.

It was a sharp contrast with what happened four years ago after the Athens Games where she also won double titles on springboard.

She was once in danger of being kicked out of the national team for partying too much at the expense of her team duties. She had to publicly apologize.

"I don't really care what other people say or write. I just try to be myself and have a little more fun every day," she says.

She says she has learned the value of calmness and modesty, after winning two more golds in Beijing to become the most decorated Olympic diver in history.

"I don't think I have won much glory. I just tried to do my best," she says. "I am not that excited - I think it (the achievement) just came naturally after hard work. But there was one moment I felt proud and glorious - listening to the national anthem and watching the national flag hoisted."

Guo, who has said the Beijing Olympics will be her last competition, believes she will be always involved in diving and is already a diving official at the Hebei provincial sports ministry.

"I feel I am not an individual after so many experiences with the diving team. I belong to China's diving," she says.