Min GAO (CHN)
Olympian Artist – Calligraphy: Beijing 2022
Highly decorated Olympic diver Min Gao learned how to swim at the age of four. At nine, she was spotted by a diving coach who persuaded her to take up diving. One of the most successful divers in the history of the sport, Min Gao won gold at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992.
After retiring from competition, the diver coached in Edmonton, Canada, for many years, helping to produce many Canadian national team divers. She returned to China in 2005 where she has been involved with humanitarian work. Min Gao is the founder and president of the Star Power Charity Foundation in Beijing as well as the first ambassador of Compact2025, a partnership that develops and disseminates evidence-based advice to politicians and other decision-makers aimed at ending world hunger and undernutrition in the next 10 years.
ARTISTIC PROJECT
Sports as the Best of Humankind
Happy Fish for a Shared Future
The Olympic Colour Sense with Chinese Oldest Script
Questions and answers
What does being an Olympian or Paralympian mean to you personally?
When I was 14 years old, I saw the Olympic Games for the first time on television, and that’s when participating in the Games became my dream. I stood on the top step of the Olympic podium at the age of 18 and defended my title four years later, which is the proudest moment of my life. Since retiring from competing, no matter what difficulties I encounter, I can overcome them just by thinking back to the efforts I went to in realising my dream of being an Olympic champion. The Olympic experience gives me the courage, strength, confidence and honour to confront challenges in my life.
What do the Olympic values mean to you?
Olympism is an international social movement that aims to promote the development of human physiology, psychology and social morality by uniting people of all nations, fostering mutual understanding, spreading Olympism all over the world, and contributing to world peace.
How do you explain to people that the Olympic Games are more than just a sports competition?
Sport is beauty, justice, courage, honour, joy, progress and peace. It’s a fertile ground for cultivating human beings.
If you could go back in time and give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Live intensely and enjoy every moment of the making of a champion, including the effort it takes, the pain of failure and the joy of success.
Are there parallels in your approach to your art and your approach to your sport? Or do you find that the two dimensions bring/brought out totally different sides of your personality?
I think diving is an art in its own right, an art that is presented in the air, an art where the body defies its limits. Today, I write and paint, which is also art, an art which uses actions to reflect my thinking.
Are there parallels in your approach to your art and your approach to your sport? Or do you find that the two dimensions bring/brought out totally different sides of your personality?
I think diving is an art in its own right, an art that is presented in the air, an art where the body defies its limits. Today, I write and paint, which is also art, an art which uses actions to reflect my thinking.
Is there anything else you’d like to say about yourself or your passions?
In 2018, I brought together more than 130 Olympic champions to create the Star Power charity foundation in Beijing. We go to schools all over the country to promote our mantra: “Be your own champion”. We teach teenagers that champions are born out of failure. We tell them how we had to try and fail countless times before we became champions. Real sporting spirit comes from failure, which takes more courage than winning. Sport cultivates our attitude towards failure and gives us the courage to persevere.
Meet the artists
Olympian artists at Beijing 2022
