Cao Yuan

Cao Yuan (; born 7 February 1995) is a Chinese diver and an Olympic gold medalist, having won four golds, one silver and one bronze in the Olympics. He has also won golds in diving at the World Championships and World Cups. Cao is considered the best male diver of all time.

Early life Cao was born on February 7, 1995 in Hunan province. Cao started diving at age five. His mother wanted him to learn discipline, so she enrolled him in diving classes.

His life motto is "Go your own way and see your own scenery. Be calm for life's ups and downs."

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Cao led throughout the competition in the men's 3m springboard event, and won gold with a score of 547.60. He also won bronze in the 3m springboard synchronized dive with Qin Kai.

In 2017, at the World Championships in Budapest, Cao won silver pairing with Xie Siyi in the 3m synchro. In the 2018 World Cup, he won a gold in the 3m synchro with Xie, as well as a silver in the individual 3m springboard.

At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea, Cao won gold in both the men's synchronised diving events. In the 3m synchro with Xie, the pair won with their last two dives, and he also won with Chen Aisen in the 10m synchro.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Cao and teammate Aisen Chen won silver in men's synchronized 10m platform. He also won gold in individual 10m platform with 582.35 points.

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, he won the gold medal at the 10m platform event, capping off China's perfect eight-gold medal performance. Cao became the first athlete since Greg Louganis to win consecutive gold medals in this event.

Accolades In 2014, he was named the Male Diver of the Year by the International Swimming Federation (FINA). He was again given the accolade in 2018.

He received the 4 May Youth Medal of Beijing in the People's Republic of China in 2014.