The history behind the name

Long before my eldest daughter, the second of my four children was even conceived, her father, like many other sports fans around the world was eagerly following the athletic achievements of Fu Mingxia, of China, the first female diver to win gold medals at three consecutive Olympics.

My daughter, Mingxia Ruth Lambkin, was born on November 21, 1999 — well outside of an Olympic year but by that time her namesake was being hailed as the Queen of Diving in her homeland and had quite a few gold medals to her name.

Mingxia made her first Olympic appearance in 1992, when she was only 13. Sports fans around the world watched her change from a slim, giggling child into a sophisticated, womanly figure. Following the 1996 Olympics, she suffered from burnout and temporarily left the sport to begin studying economics, but returned in time to compete in the 2000 Olympics.

Born in 1978 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Mingxia was not considered flexible enough for gymnastics, which she had begun learning as a pre-schooler, and was introduced to diving at age seven. Her training began before she knew how to swim, causing her coach to tie a rope around her waist so that she could be pulled from the water. Her father would teach her how to swim after work.

Mingxia was sent away to diving school in Beijing at age nine. After the move she rarely saw her parents, a factory worker and an accountant. The training programme was extremely rigorous. Diving students practiced up to ten hours per day, seven days a week, while also going to school. Mingxia was very scared when first learning platform diving, but the rules forbade her from climbing back down the steps.

Despite her initial fears, Mingxia soon developed exceptional skills. In 1990 she began diving in international competitions. That year she won the Alamo Invitational at age 11; in the Goodwill Games, she won a gold medal in platform diving. When she placed third in the 1990 Asian Games, Mingxia revised her routines and came back even stronger. In 1991 she became the youngest woman to win gold at the World Championships and youngest world champion ever in aquatic sports.

Mingxia performed more difficult dives than were normally seen when she appeared at the 1992 Olympics. She won gold in the ten-metre event, she became the youngest platform diver to win an Olympic gold medal. In 1996, she won two gold medals in Atlanta, in the platform and three- metre events and was the only diver to receive more than 60 points on each of her dives.

At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Mingxia was just 22 years old. When she won a gold medal in springboard diving she reached the same plateau as divers Greg Louganis and Pat McCormick, who were previously the only divers to hold four Olympic gold medals. At the same time, Mingxia became the first female diver to win gold at three consecutive Olympic games. She also won a silver medal competing in the new event of synchronised diving with partner Guo Jingjing.

Fu Mingxia retired in 2001, ending her career as one of the most successful divers ever.

I believe names are very important and all of my children have names that were carefully chosen because of their meaning and because their father and I wanted them to develop the very positive qualities associated with their names.

In naming my eldest daughter after this remarkable sports woman, my dream is that she will follow Fu Mingxia’s example and be at the top in her chosen field, whether in sport or in some other area of expertise.

I know that an exciting world of possibilities lies ahead for Mingxia Ruth and I hope she will be as inspired by her namesake as so many people around the world have been.

(ssheppard@newsday.co.tt)