Cao Yuan (; born 7 February 1995) is a Chinese diver and an Olympic gold medalist, having won four golds, one silver and one bronze in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. He has also won golds in diving at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Cao is considered the best male diver of all time.

Early life

Cao was born on February 7, 1995 in Hunan province. Cao started diving at age five. His mother wanted him to learn discipline, so she enrolled him in diving classes. His life motto is "Go your own way and see your own scenery. Be calm for life's ups and downs."

Career

Cao is the only diver in history to win 3 gold medals in a single World Diving Series event by winning gold medals in 3m synchro, 10m synchro, and 10m individual events of the 2014 World Diving Series in Canada. Cao together with Yue Lin are the only divers to ever win two World Series gold medals on the same day of the competition by winning the 3m synchro and 10m synchro events on 30 May 2014. In 2015, he partnered with Qin Kai on the men's 3m synchro springboard at the

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

and won gold. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio, Cao led throughout the competition in the men's 3m springboard event, and won gold with a score of 547.60. He also won bronze in the 3m springboard synchronized dive with Qin Kai. In 2017, at the

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Cao won silver pairing with Xie Siyi in the 3m synchro. In the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

, he won a gold in the 3m synchro with Xie, as well as a silver in the individual 3m springboard. At the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

held in

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

, South Korea, Cao won gold in both the men's synchronised diving events. In the 3m synchro with Xie, the pair won with their last two dives, and he also won with

Chen Aisen Chen Aisen (, born 22 October 1995) is a Chinese Diving (sport), diver. He is a double gold medal winner at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won gold in the men's synchronised 10m platform competition with diving partner Lin Yue, as well as gold in t ...

in the 10m synchro. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo, Cao and teammate Aisen Chen won silver in men's synchronized 10m platform. He also won gold in individual 10m platform with 582.35 points. At the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris, he won the gold medal at the 10m platform event, capping off China's perfect eight-gold medal performance. Cao became the first athlete since

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic Diving (sport), diver who won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second ...

to win consecutive gold medals in this event.

Accolades

In 2014, he was named the Male Diver of the Year by the International Swimming Federation (FINA). He was again given the accolade in 2018. He received the 4 May Youth Medal of Beijing in the People's Republic of China in 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Yuan 1995 births Living people Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic silver medalists for China Olympic bronze medalists for China Asian Games medalists in diving Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Chinese male divers Divers at the 2010 Asian Games Divers at the 2014 Asian Games Divers at the 2018 Asian Games Divers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic divers for China Olympic medalists in diving Sportspeople from Changsha World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving 21st-century Chinese sportsmen

Early life

Career

Accolades

See also

References

External links