Gold medal diver weds tycoon son

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FAMOUS diver Guo Jingjing tied the knot with socialite Kenneth Fok yesterday in Hong Kong.

Fok is the eldest son of Hong Kong tycoon Timothy Fok and eldest grandson of Henry Fok.

Pictures of Guo in a white wedding gown spread online as the 31-year-old Olympic gold medalist and her 33-year-old husband married.

Elsie Leung, 73, former Secretary of Justice of Hong Kong, held the registration ceremony.

Guo's bridesmaid is Wu Minxia, who is the London Olympics diving gold medalist and former diving partner of Guo.

Kenneth Fok's mother Loretta Chu, who won the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant in 1977 and is now divorced from Timothy Fok, showed up in a pink dress.

The newlyweds held a banquet at the Fok family's renowned "Stone Mansion" home, valued at 250 million yuan (US$40 million) yesterday. They will hold two more banquets - one at Nansha Hotel in Guangzhou tomorrow and the other at Hong Kong Exhibition Center on Sunday. The banquets are said to cost a total of HK$15 million (US$1.93 million).

The guest list for the wedding celebrations read like a who's who of the sporting, business and entertainment world, including hurdler Liu Xiang and badminton player Lin Dan along with Asia's wealthiest man Li Ka-shing.

The heir of one of Hong Kong's wealthiest families gave Guo his grandfather's home in Beijing, worth 100 million yuan. The couple spent 1.1 million yuan for a three-carat diamond ring at Britain's Lucie Campbell.

Guo, a Hebei Province native, retired last year, after winning four Olympic gold medals and eight world titles. Her romance with Kenneth Fok has kept Guo's name in the headlines.

It is said that Kenneth approached her as a fan to meet her in Hong Kong in 2004. Their love story wasn't so smooth at first, however. Media reports called the young man a "playboy" who had dated several TV stars.

Some wondered in Internet posts how an Oxford graduate could fall in love with the less-educated daughter of a railway worker. However, Kenneth has reportedly tried to change his image. And Guo embarked on English-language training programs abroad, a move widely seen as preparation for her entry into the rich Fok family.

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