China's Most Famous Female Athlete Jumpstarts Hosts' Diving Domination

To say China have high hopes in the diving pool at these Games is a ludicrous understatement. There are eight golds on offer and the first of them is already in the bag courtesy of perhaps the least startling Olympic result since the rat-a-tat drums of the opening ceremony died away last Friday.

If diving is suddenly moderately big news in Britain courtesy of young Tom Daley, the slender Guo Jingjing is the most famous female athlete in China. Her private life is the subject of frequent speculation, not least the issue of whether or not she is jumping into bed - presumably with a preliminary corkscrew twist and somersault - with the playboy grandson of the Hong Kong business tycoon Henry Fok. Add in a temporary ban by the authorities for excessive commercial activity and all the ingredients for prime dive-time entertainment are there.

Happily for her adoring public, the 26-year-old Guo did not disappoint. In concert with her partner Wu Minxia she comfortably collected her first gold of the week, and her third in all, by a margin which implied the rest had opted instead for a spot of top bombing. Anyone who has ever stood on top of a high board would never describe what happens next as utterly predictable but there are exceptions. The judge who marks down a Chinese diver for a fractional misjudgment at these Olympics would make a worthy subject for an HM Bateman cartoon.

And so it came to pass that Guo and Wu picked up a couple of perfect 10s to earn a far bigger roar than Michael Phelps received for his world record in the neighboring pool five hours earlier. It was one of those 'Who cares who's second' moments, as well as a reminder that a Barcelona-style backdrop is not required to make diving a compelling televisual sport. If you have ever admired the super slo-mo replays which track the revolutions of a spinning cricket ball, imagine the same technology being applied to twisting bodies in airborne unison. Diving must also be the only sport in the world where the camera not only follows female athletes all the way down in drooling close-up, but pursues them into the showers afterwards as well. There is already enough pressure at the top level without having to put up with a cameraman handing you the shampoo.

Not that the Chinese girls appeared remotely fazed. China won five of the eight diving gold medals in Sydney and collected six in Athens four years ago, as well as nine of the 10 available golds at the World Championships in Melbourne last year. The expectation, as a result, is sky-high, but the latest batch of flying machines look well equipped to cope. As one diving coach explained to me this week, his sport is the golfing equivalent of a perfect drive and a precision putt combined. If that puts Guo Jingjing on a par with Tiger Woods, there is no disputing the more popular performer in this part of the world.