Synchronized stars add world title to Olympic honors
BUDAPEST — Chinese divers Cao Yuan and Wang Zongyuan won the men’s 3-meter synchronized final at the FINA World Championships in Budapest on Sunday.
Cao and Wang scored a total of 459.18 points to win gold, with Britain’s Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding (451.71) taking silver, and Germany’s Lars Rudiger and Timo Barthel (406.44) claiming bronze.
The 20-year-old Wang is already an Olympic champion. He won gold at the Tokyo Games in the same discipline paired with Xie Siyi.
Cao, 27, has two Olympic golds in his collection — 3m springboard from the 2016 Rio Games, and individual 10m platform from Tokyo 2020, where he had to settle for silver in the 10m synchronized.
Cao also won the 3m synchro world title in 2015 and 2019, paired with Qin Kai and Xie respectively. His partnership with Wang in this event started last December.
“It’s an honor to win the first gold for the Chinese diving team here in Budapest. But actually I’m not very satisfied with the final dive. It could have been better with higher points if I stayed more focused,” Cao said.
“I’ve won gold at the world championships in 3m synchro three times and every time it feels different with different partners. As a veteran, it’s not easy to maintain one’s best form. I need to catch up with the tempo of the younger athletes in the team, and keep raising the level in training,” he added.
“I’m pretty happy with the result today. This is my first international event after winning the Olympic gold. And it’s my first time to compete in synchro diving at the worlds. The gold means a lot to me. There’s a little bit of regret over the final dive, but anyway, we can do better next time.”
China has finished no lower than second on the podium in the men’s 3m springboard synchronized event while taking nine of the 11 golds on offer to date.
The only two years China failed to win gold, it picked up silver — Wang Tianling and Wang Feng in 2003, and Cao and Xie in 2017, when Russians were crowned champions.
Only Chinese divers have won multiple gold medals in this event at the world championships — Qin Kai (five), Wang Feng (three), Cao (two) and He Chong (two).
In the women’s 10m platform semifinals on Sunday, China’s Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan topped the standings with scores of 427 and 413.70 respectively.