By Lin Meilian

Tiger Woods is the big brand for golf. David Beckham is big in football. For China, Yao Ming is king.

Yet when it comes to the top sport for name recognition in China, it is diving that rules the waves.

Divers like Olympic champion Fu Mingxia, Guo Jingjing and Tian Liang are household names throughout the country.

This unique profile for what is a relatively minor sport in the rest of the world reflects the fact that China has won more Olympic gold medals in diving.

China's diving team unsurprisingly wrapped up a clean sweep of all 10 gold medals at the Asian Games that ended Saturday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.

Partly because of their frequent appearances on television, Chinese divers dominate much of mainland mainstream celebrity gossip.

As glamorous and exciting as the Olympic dream might seem, the reality, especially for also-rans, is much harsher and colder. Few Olympic athletes get to live happily ever after.

One Asian Games gold medallist cannot make the China team for the London 2010 Olympic Games.

Shi Tingmao, a 19-year-old diver from Chongqing, Sichuan Province, took gold in the women's three-meter synchronized springboard on November 22.

Shi is puzzled about her future. Although she represented the country at the Asian Games, she is not on the national team. This means she might well end up jobless after retirement.

The daughter of workers from Chongqing, Shi had gymnastics classes for four years when she was 4 years old. She was taken to Tsinghua University's diving team in beijing at the age of 8 and stayed there till 18.

Her coach Yu Fen, one of China's most influential diving coaches and trainer of Olympic champions, described Shi as a "diligent and talented" girl.

"When I first saw this little girl, I knew she was diving material," she said.

From the start, her family has been under financial pressure and has spent almost all their savings on her training.

Three days before the Asian Games, her father bought a color television, according to the Chongqing Evening News' report.

"We want to see her win the gold medal clearly on TV," her father was quoted as saying.

Beijing resident Shi earns 1,000 yuan a month. The gold medal might bring her an extra 18,000 yuan reward.

She told media earlier that she wanted to use the money to buy a bigger house for her parents.

"It doesn't really matter," her father said. "The house can wait till she wins a gold medal at the Olympic Games."

If she even goes to London, that is. There are reasons for her father's financial faith.

Pommel horse practice at a sports school in the prefecture-level city of Xuchang in Henan Province on August 18, 2008. Photo: CFP

China won seven of the eight gold diving medals in Beijing in 2008, with only one medal lost to Australia.

World diving champion Guo Jingjing is a mainland superstar. She makes regular appearances in gossip columns, advertisements and television.

The youngest gold medallist at the Barcelona Olympic Games, Fu Mingxia, married then-Hong Kong Financial Secretary Antony Leung after the 2000 Olympics.

Former world table tennis champion Deng Yaping was recently nominated as a deputy secretary general to the People's Daily newspaper.

But daddy can also be wrong. Ai Dongmei, who won 16 medals in international marathons, sold her Olympic gold medal for 1,000 yuan in 2007.

The champion-turned-street vendor reportedly earned 300 yuan a month in Beijing's suburban district of Tongzhou.

Cai Li, a former Asian weight lifting champion, died of pneumonia in 2003 at the age of 33. He was unable to pay his medical bills.

Zou Chunlan, a former national champion of China in women's weight lifting, worked as a masseuse in a public bathhouse after she failed to get a decent job. She suffered body pains left over from her intensive training.

Their fates are by no means unusual and they are just the gold medallists. About 80 percent of 300,000 retired athletes fail to land a job, according to a China Sports Daily report in 2007.

The government has announced policies in recent years to reduce production of poverty-stricken retired athletes, such as university education and financial support.

Dong Jiong, a former badminton player who once ranked among the world's men's singles elite in 1990s, set up his own badminton club after retirement nine years ago.

He said retired athletes should not rely on others to rescue them from post-glory poverty.

"You can't just wait for the authorities to help you," he said. "You should fight for your own future."

Splish splash cash

Inside a swimming pool of west Beijing, a slim girl climbed up to the springboard, stretched her arms out in front, then, with a jerky folding of her abdomen, entered the water with a loud splash.

"Ugh!" her mother groaned. She turned her head and studied images on a laptop on which was broadcasting the women's one meter springboard event at the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Her daughter was failing to attract her mother's attention and so she climbed back up to the one meter springboard and got ready for another try.

"Wang Yi! Your arms! Stretch your arms like an ice-cream stick!" her coach yelled. The girl nodded, flexed and dived again.

Accompanied by their parents, some 20 children aged 8-14 years old from all over the country are taking diving lessons at Tsinghua University, Beijing, in the hope that Yu Fen, trainer of Olympic champions Fu Mingxia and Guo Jingjing, can help them win Olympic gold. At least that is what parents dare to dream.

"Coach Yu, do you think China's divers will win more gold medals?" a mother asked.

"What a question!" Yu laughed.

Diving training usually starts at 6 or 7, as years of skill and strength development are required.

Four-time Olympic champion Fu Mingxia started diving at 7 and won a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona when she was 14.

But since then, divers under 14 have been banned to prevent them injuring their developing bodies by repetitively hitting water. More and more children want to follow in Fu's dainty steps.

These 20 will have more choices as the country slowly attempts to combine better sports training with a better education for its athletes.

Cai Bangli, 38, brought her 9-year-old daughter Wang Yi to Yu in September, believing her daughter had a gift.

Before coming to Beijing, Yi had been dancing since she was 6, lending her a refined sense of rhythm, timing, balance and flexibility.

After noting Yi was energetic, her coach at that time suggested Wang's parents switch her to diving.

Believing dancers are gifted athletes, Cai enrolled her daughter at a diving class in Chongqing when she was 7. She failed to see sufficient progress, she said, and so this year they moved to Beijing.

"I try my best to give her the best," Cai said. "I hope one day she can win the gold medal."

Cai is a 24-7 babysitter. She takes Yi to primary school in the morning, to the Tsinghua diving hall in the afternoon and helps her with her homework in the evening.

Her husband has stayed in Chongqing earning money to support their daughter's beautiful, impossible golden dream.

Training costs 1,200 yuan ($180) a month. The family spends about 70,000 yuan a year on tuition, training and renting a house in Beijing.

"I told my daughter that if she ever tired of diving, then we can go home, but she never complains," Cai said.

All work, no play

Training varies from child to child. Most attend classes in the morning and train five hours a day, five days a week, often doing dry-land repetition and 1,000 diving exercises a day.

"I have to make sure these kids dive perfectly no matter when they dive or under what circumstances," Yu said.

"Actually these kids are harder than the older generation of divers," she said. "The older generation only focused on training, but they have to take care of both training and study. They have no time to play."

Yu, a former coach of the national diving team, is head coach at Tsinghua diving team now.

"From an entry-level diver to an Olympic champion, Fu Mingxia took two years and seven months," Yu said.

"That was because she was put into a specialized sports school for full-time training."

That was Wednesday.

"You hardly see a happy face on the national diving team," Yu said. "But look at the kids here: They're happy and enjoying it!"

She tells her girl they can always give up, said Xu Juan, mother of 11-year-old Liu Wanqi.

"It's no big deal," she said. Liu and her 10-year-old brother are among the 20 children taking lessons at Tsinghua.

Same as other mothers, Xu gave up her job in Anhui Province and enrolled her children in Beijing in the hope they can train but - importantly - also study at the same time.

"One day if they wake up to find this golden dream is not as shining as they thought, they can always go back to a normal life because they have a better education," she said.

This new generation of children have more choices than athletes who go back to school after bringing glory to the country, Yu said.

"Children that have diving experience are more likely to win a scholarship at an overseas high school as long as their English is OK," she said.

Two of her students have gone abroad, she noted.

"If they want to go to university in China, diving could be recognized as a sports talent and get them bonus points for the university entrance exam," she said.

Liu Wanqi stretched out her arms ahead of her head, leapt into the air and plopped into the water from her one meter springboard.

There was barely a ripple.

"Wow!" her mother cheered. "Beautiful … like a needle."

Fast facts: China's top 10 athletes in 2009, according to Xinhua*

1. Zhang Lin, male, swimming

The 22-year-old swimmer won the gold medal in the men's 800-meter freestyle at the Rome World Championships in July, shattering the world record and ending the gold drought for Chinese male swimmers in the world's top swimming event.

2. Guo Jingjing, female, diving

The 28-year-old diver claimed three-meter springboard individual and synchronized titles in the Rome World Championships in July, ruling both disciplines for the fifth time.

3. Liu Zige, female, swimming

The 20-year-old swimmer finished second in the women's 200-meter butterfly at the Rome World Championships. Liu shattered the world mark twice at the World Cup short-course series.

4. Bai Xue, female, track and field

The 21-year-old runner became the first Chinese to win a marathon race at the World Championships in Berlin in August. Bai also won in the 11th National Games and Asian Athletics Championships.

5. Lin Dan, male, badminton

The 26-year-old headed China to victory in the Sudirman Cup world mixed team badminton championship in May. In August, Lin became the first male athlete to have claimed three straight singles titles in the world championships.

6. Wang Meng, female, speed skating

The 24-year-old skater grabbed three individual golds at the World Speed Skating Championships in March while pacing the Chinese team to win the 3000-meter relay.

7. Wang Hao, male, table tennis

The 26-year-old collected both men's singles and doubles gold medals at the 50th World Championships in Yokohama, Japan.

8. Liu Xiang, male, track and field

The 26-year-old hurdler staged a strong comeback after his Beijing Olympic withdrawal, finishing second in 13.15 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. Liu later achieved a hat-trick by winning the 11th National Games, Asian Athletics Championships and the 5th East Asian Games.

9. Long Qingquan, male, weight lifting

The 19-year-old won the 56 kilo class at the 11th National Games with a lift of 169 kilos, surpassing the world record set by Turkish Halil Mutlu. Long later claimed two golds at the World Championships in November.

10. Zhang Yining, female, table tennis

The 28-year-old grabbed singles gold at the World Championships in Yokohama, which was her 19th world title. Zhang also defended her status at the 11th National Games with her singles and team victory.

* Yao Ming is not included, according to the agency.