Fu Mingxia

Fu Mingxia, born August 16, 1978, is from Wuhan, China. Her parents were ordinary workers in Wuhan and are now retired. She has an older sister, Fu Mingyan, who once left her job to take care of her during a pregnancy. Her cousin is Singaporean badminton player Fu Mingtian; whenever Fu Mingtian came to compete in Hong Kong, Fu Mingxia would go to support her.

Fu Mingxia entered the gymnastics class of the Wuhan Sports School in 1985, but because of limited joint flexibility she switched to diving. In 1987 she was selected for the Hubei diving team; in 1988 she joined the national training squad, and in 1990 she officially became a member of the Chinese national diving team. Early in her career, she placed fifth in the 10 m platform at the 1989 National Youth Games, and the following year won the B-group 10 m platform title at the National Youth Championships. That same year she competed in the U.S. International Diving Invitational and took the platform title.

At the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle she won the women's platform with a score of 443.04, becoming the youngest champion in the event’s history. That year she also won the platform bronze at the 11th Asian Games held in Beijing. In January 1991, at the 6th World Aquatics Championships in Perth, she won the women's 10 m platform with 426.50 points; at age 13 she became the youngest world champion in history, an achievement recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Around the same time she placed second on the 3 m springboard and third on the 10 m platform at the China International Diving Open.

In 1992 Fu won both the 3 m springboard and 10 m platform at the 2nd City Games and at the National Championships. She represented China at the Barcelona Olympics and won the gold medal in the women's 10 m platform. That victory made her the first Chinese athlete to win Olympic gold in the women's platform event and (as reported) the youngest Olympic gold medalist in history. She was featured on the cover of Time magazine, the first Chinese athlete to appear on its cover.

She went on to win many international and domestic titles, including the 1993 World Cup and the National Games. In 1994 she won the 10 m platform at the World Championships in Rome. In 1995 and 1996 she continued to record excellent results at the World Cup and the Olympics; at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics she won gold in both the platform and the springboard events.

Fu briefly retired in 1997, then in 1998 studied for a Bachelor of Business Administration at Tsinghua University. She made a comeback in 1999, winning multiple domestic and international titles, and at the 2000 Sydney Olympics she won gold again. She then officially retired and moved to Hong Kong. She completed her studies at Tsinghua University in 2004 and received her bachelor’s degree.

In her personal life, her partner is Leung Kam-sung (Liang Jinsong); they married in 2002. She has three children: a daughter, Leung Siyi (Liang Siyu), born in 2003; an elder son, Leung Hojia (Liang Haojia), born in 2004; and a younger son, Leung Ka-wai (Liang Jiawei), born in 2008.

Fu Mingxia has been active in social and charitable activities, including leading her children in the 2015 “Little Calf Charity Walk” and frequently attending charity galas and benefit auctions. The public generally regards her as having elegant technique and steady mental composure; she has made an important contribution to the development of Chinese diving. Her career and achievements have become an important symbol in Chinese sports.