Xiong Ni

Xiong Ni (Chinese熊倪, Pinyin Xiong Ní; born January 24, 1974 in Changsha, Hunan ) is a former Chinese diver.

Already at the age of eight he was nominated in 1982 for the selection of Hunan province. Just four years later in 1986 he was selected for the national training group. In the same year he won the 1 -meter, 3 meter and 5 - meter board from the Chinese Championships and was also in the overall first. Two years later he was at the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 with only 14 years in the squad of the Chinese. Surprisingly, he won the silver medal in platform diving. At the 1991 World Championships in Perth, he also won the springboard diving from the 3- meter board the silver medal. A year later he won the bronze medal in platform diving at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. A short time later, he began to specialize in the art of jumping from the 3- meter board. For the first time he was able to win in this discipline at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the gold medal. 1997 announced Xiong Ni for the first time, wanting to withdraw from active competition, however, came only a year later returned to active sports. Three years later at the Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000 he again won the gold medal in springboard diving from the 3- meter board and was also able to win the gold medal in synchronized diving from the 3- meter board. In 2001, he joined then finally back from active competition.

In 1989 he was by Swimming World Magazine as the best diver in the world gewählt.Gemessen to the gained medals Xiong Ni by Dmitri Sautin the most successful diver in the world. In 2006 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.