Born on August 27, 1979, Tian Liang is a native of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing. He began regular training in diving at the age of seven. According to Xu Guilu, former coach of Tian at primary school, Tian was very quick to learn and hard working. He joined the national team in 1993.

Tian won his first national title in 1994, and claimed his first world championships title in the following year. However, it is not until 2000 that Tian realized his dream - winning an Olympic gold medal.

At the Sydney Olympics, he beat Russian favorite Dmitry Sautin to clinch the 10m platform title. He set a new record when he scored 101.52 points for his fourth dive in the finals - the highest score for one dive ever recorded in the history of the Olympic diving competition.

After the retirement of Olympic gold medalists Xiong Ni and Fu Mingxia following the Sydney Olympics, Tian has become one of the leading figures of the national team. Currently the No. 1 Chinese male diver on highboard, he is expected to lead the Chinese diving team to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Tian, who turned 22 on Monday, is the idol of many girls for both his sports talent and handsome features. His appearance in public always causes a sensation both in China and abroad. Tian lit the torch at the opening ceremony of the Universiade last Wednesday night, a great honor for a sportsman in a country with 1. 2 billion people and numerous outstanding athletes.

Tian is studying economic management at the Xi'an Jiaotong University in the western Chinese province of Shaanxi. He loves playing football, surfing the Internet and playing video games.

Tian Liang's diviing accolades stretched on and on. Following are some of his feats:

1996 -- gold medal in the synchronized men's platform at World Cup.

1998 -- gold medal in the men's platform at the Asian Games in Bangkok.

January 1999 -- double golds in individual as well as synchronized l0m platform diving at the World Cup in New Zealand.

January 2000 -- double gold medals in individual as well as synchronized l0m platform at the Diving World Cup in Australia.

June 2000 -- gold medal in the men's l0m platform diving at Hong Kong Open, winning the highest accumulated score of 783.93 points and the highest score of 108 points for a single dive in the history of international diving competitions.

September 2000 -- gold medal in the men's l0m platform and silver medal in the men's synchronized l0m platform diving at the Sydney Olympic Games.

July 2001 -- double gold medals in individual as well as synchronized men's 10m platform at the Swimming World Championships in Fukuoka.

(People's Daily 08/28/2001)