by Tan Jingjing, Li Jia

    BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Here she is. Standing on the podium beside outgoing springboard champion and runner-up, third-placed Wu Minxia bids farewell to the shadow of "diving diva" Guo Jingjing and starts an era of her own.

    The women's 3m springboard final on Sunday evening was probably a swansong show for triple Olympic champion Guo and Russian veteran Julian Pakhalina, who both are considering retirement after the Beijing Olympics.

Gold medalist Guo Jingjing (2nd R) of China shakes hands with her teammate bronze medalist Wu Minxia (3rd R) during the awarding ceremony of women's 3m springboard at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Zhao Peng) Photo Gallery>>>

    In an epic battle for the historic springboard gold, both Guo and Pakhalina staged near perfect five movements to pocket gold and silver, leaving the bronze to Wu, who also showed a class of her own despite a glitch in her first attempt.

    Cheered on by an emotional capacity crowd, Wu earned the highest 85.50 points in her fourth dive, a reverse two-and-a-half somersault in pike position, outscoring Guo and Pakhalina to top that attempt.

    "I showed my best in the competition, and I am satisfied with the bronze. Both the winner and runner-up are too strong," said Wu after the final.

    Having collected 10 Olympic and World Championships medals, Wu seems to always finish second to the "springboard queen" Guo, no matter in the Worlds or Olympics.

Chinese diver Wu Minxia competes during the women's 3m springboard final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 17, 2008. Wu won the bronze medal in the event with a score of 389.85 points. (Xinhua/Zhao Peng)( Photo Gallery>>>

    When she climbs to the top, it is always with her more famed partner in synchro events.

    The 22-year-old is expected to carry the Chinese diving standard once Guo is gone.

    Born in November of 1985, Wu took up diving when she was in kindergarten. Both of her diving coach and ballet teacher wanted to nurture the pretty girl.

    Facing the dilemma, Wu made up her mind to be diver, simply because she loves water.

    "I feel bad if I don't touch water for a day," Wu said. "Especially on weekends, when I cannot be in water, I feel terrible. To make myself feel good, I take a shower."

    After suffering a hip injury in 1999, Wu found herself anxious before every dive, and sometimes even felt scared.

    She then repeatedly "re-run" her dive in her head to boost confidence, then leaped.

    "If you want to succeed, first you have to learn how to sacrifice," said the 22-year-old. "As an athlete, as long as you are strict with yourself, you will be rewarded."

    Wu, a Shanghai native, jumped to fame when she earned the women's 3m springboard synchro title at the 2004 Athens Olympics with Guo Jingjing.

    Not so many people still remember her silver medal in the individual event in Athens, with more attention and cheers reserved for Guo's clear-cut victory.

    Fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Guo for years, Wu clearly learned that the biggest disparity between Guo and her lies in mental strength.

    "I know what my problem is. I don't want to be compared with Guo Jingjing. She is a good rival. She is there to be my goal," said Wu.

    The two divers, currently world No.1 and No.2, have dominated synchronized springboard since they teamed up in 2001.

    They have bagged three World Championship titles, secured Olympic gold in Athens and claimed China's first diving gold in Beijing on Aug. 10.

    National team coach Liu Henglin said Wu's advantage lies in her perfect figure which carries elegance and fluency in her dives.

    Liu said Guo is more experienced in control of the springboard. Other than this, the two are evenly matched.

    China's "dream team" of diving has claimed 26 Olympic titles out of 40 in the last 24 years, since Zhou Jihong won the country's first diving gold in women's 10m platform in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

    Chinese Gao Min ruled the women's springboard from 1986 to 1992, winning every world and Olympic title during the period.

    Fu Mingxia dominiated the women's platform between 1993 and 2000, gathering four Olympic golds.

    From the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to the 2004 Athens Games, it took almost eight years for Guo Jingjing to realize her dream for Olympic gold.

    Now as the first diver to have won back-to-back Olympic individual and synchro titles, Guo Jingjing is ready to leave the sporting limelight.

    The era of Wu Minxia has begun.