But for Chinese diver Wu Minxia securing her golden hat-trick on Sunday at the Aquatic Centre in east London was followed by shock and grief.

After a success in the women's Synchronised 3m Springboard that made her a legend in her sport, her family decided it was the right time to tell an upsetting family secret.

They confessed to their daughter that her grandparents had died over a year ago.

And instead of telling her, they held the clandestine.

Something Wu had no idea about was that her mother had been battling breast cancer for several years.

The reasoning was clear that they wanted her to win at all costs and didn't want family matters to interfere with her diving career.

Wu, who with team-mate He Zi won the last two synchronised gold medals in Athens and Beijing, was an overwhelming favourite towin gold again and successfully lead China's quest to unite every Olympic and world diving gold medal.

The 26-year-old was under intense pressure to succeed and so was the family who kept for a year so diving star daughter wasn't distracted from Olympics.

“It was essential to tell these whites lie,” father Wu Yuming said.