Chinese Olympic champion Guo Jingjing told a Mexico City press
conference on Wednesday that good state planning was responsible
for the success of the nation's divers.
Guo herself is living testament to China's development programs
which identify athletic talent from an early age and train athletes
to excel at the highest level.
Guo said she had been training for 19 years and had focused on
every detail in a long-term bid to improve.
Guo will compete in the International Swimming Federation's
World Diving Series' second phase in Mexico City today and
Saturday.
Guo, who won this year's World Championships in the Australian
city of Melbourne, will partner Wu Minxia for the 3m synchronized
event.
Speaking at the end of her second day of practice, the Hebei Province athlete said China's divers had
all the equipment and support they needed to excel thanks to the
collective commitment to achieving the best results at the 2008
Beijing Olympics.
The diver will aim to repeat the 3m board and 3m synchronized
diving wins she achieved in the World Series's first round in the
English city of Sheffield.
Winner of the Mexico round will pocket US$5,000, second place
US$4,000 and third place US$3,000.
Divers who win all three competitions in the series will pocket
a US$25,000 bonus.
The last event in the series will be held in the Chinese city of
Nanjing.
Mexico, China, the United States, Brazil, Cuba, France, Russia,
Australia, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Japan, Canada, Sweden, Austria
and Malaysia all will take part in the Mexico event.
(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2007)
