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.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2008)