, China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

). She is a top female diver

Diving

Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, multiple Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 gold medal

Gold medal

A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

ist and world champion. She is about 1.58m tall (5'2").

Early life and career

At an early age, Fu learned to swim at a nearby river under the instruction of her father, Fu Yijun. She started gymnastics at age 5 but soon switched to diving. Fu Mingxia left home at the age of 9 to train in Beijing. She was later professionally coached by Jian Li You.

Fu won her first world champion title in 1991 at the World Swimming Championships

1991 World Aquatics Championships

The 1991 World Aquatics Championships took place in Perth, Australia between 3 January and 13 January 1991 with 1142 participating athletes.- Medals table :-Diving:MenWomen-Open water swimming:MenWomen-Swimming:MenWomen...

. At age 12, she became the youngest world champion ever in any sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

. In the 1992 Summer Olympics

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

 held in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Fu Mingxia became China's youngest Olympic champion ever when she won the 10-meter platform gold at the age of 13. That prompted the international governing body to rule divers must turn 14 by the year of Olympic, World Championship or World Cup competition to participate. Fu also won the 10-meter platform gold in both the 1993 and 1994 World Championships and the 3-meter springboard gold in the 95 World Championships.

In 1996, when Fu was 17 years old, she captured both the 10-meter platform gold and the 3-meter springboard gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

 in Atlanta. In doing so, she equalled the achievements of Germany's Ingrid Krämer

Ingrid Krämer

Ingrid Krämer is a diver from East Germany and Olympic champion.She was born in Dresden....

 in the 1960 Rome Olympics

1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

, becoming only the fourth female to capture both titles.

Awards and accomplishments

• 1990 Goodwill Games - 10m platform 1st (11 years old)
• 1991 Asian Games - 10m platform 3rd (12 years old)
• 1991 World Swimming Championships - 10m platform 1st (12 years old)
• 1992 Olympic Games - 10m platform 1st (14 years old)
• 1993 FINA Diving World Cup - 3m springboard 3rd (15 years old)
• 1994 World Swimming Championships - 10m platform 1st (16 years old)
• 1994 Asian Games - 3m springboard 2nd (16 years old)
• 1995 FINA Diving World Cup - 10m platform 2nd (17 years old)
• 1995 FINA Diving World Cup - 3m springboard 1st (17 years old)
• 1996 Olympic Games - 10m platform 1st (18 years old)
• 1996 Olympic Games - 3m springboard 1st (18 years old)
• 1999 University Games - 10m platform 1st (21 years old)
• 1999 University Games - 3m springboard 1st (21 years old)
• 2000 FINA Diving World Cup - 3m springboard 2nd (22 years old)
• 2000 Olympic Games - 3m springboard synchronized (with Guo Jingjing) 2nd (22 years old)
• 2000 Olympic Games - 3m springboard 1st (22 years old)

Education and marriage

Fu Mingxia went to college to study economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 after winning three Olympic gold medals in women's diving and then returned to the sport in 2000 to win a fourth.

Fu married Antony Leung

Antony Leung

Antony Leung Kam-chung GBS JP was the former Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region...

, former Financial Secretary of Government of Hong Kong, on 15 July 2002 in Hawaii. Their marriage was not publicly revealed until 30 July 2002. They have a daughter (born February 26, 2003) and two sons (born December 12, 2004 and April 25, 2008).