Wu Minxia took gold in women’s three-meter springboard last night, making diving history and continuing China’s winning streaks in the sport. Her successes here in London have come at great personal sacrifice. Wu began training when she was six years old, and at 16 she left home to train a government-sponsored facility. Last week, after winning the 3m synchronized springboard final, Wu’s parents finally revealed the news of her grandparents’ death over a year ago, as well as her mother’s eight-year battle with breast cancer, which is currently in remission. The family had kept the news secret from her in order to not affect her performance in London 2012. The 26-year old from Shanghai easily won the women’s three-metre springboard with 414.00 points, making this her sixth medal and first individual gold. She ties with her former synchronized diving partner Guo Jingjing as the most-decorated diver of all time. Wu’s current synchro partner He Zi won silver, while Mexico’s Laura Sanchez Soto captured bronze in an upset over Italy’s Tania Cagnotto.
Earlier in the week, Wu also won the 3m synchronized springboard title with He, making her the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic synchronized titles. She is also the only other woman besides Guo to have won both the 3m springboard and 3m synchronized springboard at the Olympic Games. It was impossible to watch Wu’s performance over the past week and not expect her to win gold.
