'Little girl' Chen dives for gold

Chen Ruolin looked every bit the seasoned champion yesterday, as she dived her way to synchronized gold from the 10 m platform.

An hour later, however, as she sat facing photographers and reporters at a press conference, she was keen to remind the world that she is just 15, still very much a child.

"I'm still a little girl," said the youngest member of China's diving squad.

The record will show, however, that she and Wang Xin, her 16-year-old partner, are also the 2008 Olympic champions in the 10 m synchronized diving event.

When asked how she dealt with the pressure of performing on the world stage, Chen said that whenever she felt nervous, she simply thought about all the fun she had had on a visit to Disneyland in Los Angeles.

Her gym bags provide further reminders of her youth, each of which is decorated with colorful badges and pins of Mickey Mouse and cartoon penguins.

When she is not working on her diving technique, Chen likes to watch DVDs, Tom and Jerry being her favorite. But finding time for such childish pleasures is not always easy, she said.

Another hardship is that she always has to watch her weight.

"I haven't had any sweets for almost a year," she told China Daily earlier this year.

"I have to maintain my weight and shape or else I won't be able to complete the most difficult dives."

"Sometimes I would get really hungry, but I was only allowed to drink water. I would tell myself to hold on until after the Olympics."

It is a tough regime for a young girl to follow. Chen had to change a partner to compete in the Olympics after her former diving partner, Jia Tong, grew too quickly and lost her diving technique.

According to China's official team statistics, Chen stands just 1.42 m tall and weighs in at a mere 30 kg.

The youngster said the first thing she wanted to do after she got her gold medal was tell her grandparents in Nantong, Jiangsu province.

She had no idea her grandmother, Chen Guiying, had watched every moment of the tiny champion's performance live on TV.

"I'm so so happy and so so excited," the 70-year-old told China Daily yesterday.

Brought up by her grandparents, Chen began training as a diver when she was only 4 years old.

"She was very weak then, and we just wanted her to be stronger," Chen Guiying said.

Wang Zhenjian, director of the Nantong sports bureau, told China Daily yesterday that Chen's victory came as no surprise.

"We're really happy about her gold medal, but we're not surprised," he said.

In nine days' time, Chen will return to the diving platform to compete in the 10 m individual event.