50 greatest Summer Olympians in history
By John Buhler
44. Guo Jingjing, Diving.
Guo Jingjing dominated women’s diving for much of the 2000s, snagging four golds and two silvers over three different Olympiads. She burst onto the scene with a pair of silvers (in the synchro springboard and 3m spring board) at the 2000 Sydney Games, and would go on to win gold in the same two events in both 2004 and 2008.
Despite being the most decorated female diver in Olympic history, with four golds and six in total, Jingjing retired in 2011, shortly before the 2012 London Games.
And while her retirement — before age 30, within reach of the all-time diving-medals record, and on the heels of forfeiting numerous lucrative endorsement deals — left far more questions than answers, Jingjing remains, without a doubt, one of the 50 greatest Summer Olympians of all time.
Next: 43. Vitaly Scherbo.