Springboard, Women

American women had dominated diving from 1920 through the 1976 Olympics. But by 1988 the world’s best divers were the Chinese. Gao Min was the favorite in this event, having won the 1986 World Championships. By Seoul she was the only woman to have scored 600 points on springboard, which she had done three times. She was unable to get that total at the 1988 Olympics, as the judges were scoring rather low, but her 580.23 won the title by 45.90 points over her countrywoman, Li Qing, who made her only Olympic appearance in this event. The bronze medal went to American Kelly McCormick, the 1984 silver medalist, whose mother, Pat McCormick, had won the original diving double-double in 1952-56. Nicknamed the “Diving Queen,” Gao would retire as the greatest springboard diver ever among women to that time. She really never lost at the major international level, adding a second Olympic gold in 1992. At the World Championships she won the 3-metre event in 1986 and 1991 and the 1-metre in 1991. She won both boards at the 1990 Goodwill Games and Asian Games, and won three World Cup titles, in 1987 on the 3-metre, and in 1989 on both boards.