Abstract: Based on the data of all of the Chinese masters of sports and the international maters of sports in diving event from 2001 to 2016, the present paper studied through the methods of regression analysis and spatial analysis the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of Chinese high level diving athletes and analyzed the reasons with reference to the number of high-level diving athletes, development trends, as well as the GDP, population, attention and geographical conditions of various regions in China. The results show that: in terms of temporal distribution, the number of high-level diving athletes is increasing on the whole, among which the growth trend of international masters of sports is slowing down (slope is 0.5), while the growth trend of masters of sports is significant (slope is 1.37). The number of masters of sports is more than 9 times that of international masters of sports, indicating that the "pyramid" base is stable. In terms of the proportion of men and women, the number of female athletes is much more than male athletes, while the number of male international masters of sports is more than that of females. In terms of competition performance and results, female international masters of sports are better than males, as is evidenced by the fact that China's women diving team has won the gold medal grand slam in the past three consecutive Olympic games. In terms of spatial distribution, the number of high level diving athletes from different regions within China varies greatly, showing the distribution of athletes is unbalanced. The study shows that the development trend of Chinese high level diving athletes on the whole is good despite that their temporal and spatial distribution are not even. To promote the development of diving event in China, all regions should attach importance to the construction of diving career, the balanced development of male and female athletes, and the exchange of talents between regions.

Key words: diving, masters of sports, international masters of sports, time evolution characteristics, spatial distribution characteristics