TIAN LIANG, the heartthrob of many girls in China for both his diving feats and good looks, has enjoyed pop star status in the country since he defeated Russia’s Dmitry Sautin at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

After the Athens Olympics, Chinese media reports always mentioned Tian together with Guo Jingjing, the “diving queen.” They were better known together as Liang Jingjing (the compound of the names of Tian and Guo, meaning ‘sparkling.’)

In an interview in July last year, the two for the first time discussed the rumors that have flown about their relationship.

Tian in his autobiography describes in detail how Guo and he competed against each other but later began to encourage and support each other. “As he wrote, I highly appreciate our friendship,” Guo said. “It is already on the verge of love, but not quite there yet.”

In March 2005, Tian hit the headlines of many newspapers for having a fling with fellow-diver Wu Minxia, long considered China’s next diving queen. The Hong Kong-based Emperor Entertainment Group, which represents Tian, immediately denied the news.

Tian’s current girlfriend is reportedly Ye Yiqian, one of the top 10 Super Girl idols on a popular reality show made by the Hunan TV Station.(SD News)