China's diving queen Guo Jingjing will return to the pool next week for the fifth stop of the 2009 Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, the US.
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Guo Jingjing |
After the Beijing Olympic Games last August, when Guo claimed her third and fourth Olympic gold medals, the diving super star enjoyed six months off, shooting advertisements and attending various social activities.
She only returned to training with the national team after the Spring Festival in February.
The US Grand Prix, from May 7-10, will be her first competition and only competition before the National Games qualifications from May 16-22.
The Chinese Swimming Administrative Center considered withdrawing from the US event, because of concerns over the spread of H1N1 flu, but allowed the team to leave Beijing for the US last Sunday.
Guo's teammates include her synchro partner Wu Minxia, Olympic women's 10m platform gold medalists Chen Ruolin and Olympic men's 10m platform silver medalist Zhou Luxin.
They haven't competed in the past month and are in good physical condition to resist potential risks of the flu.
In the previous stop of the Grand Prix in Mexico City, the Chinese team won seven from eight titles.
The event went ahead despite the H1N1 flu outbreak but the competition was closed to the public.
The Chinese divers underwent physical checks but were not quarantined after their arrival back on home soil last Tuesday.
(China Daily May 6, 2009)
