Chinese diving doyenne Minxia eyes record

RIO DE JANEIRO: Wu Minxia (pic) will have no room for error as she pursues a record seventh Olympic diving medal in Rio, one she hopes will be part of a Chinese sweep of gold.

“I am looking forward to perfection on my competition day,” Minxia, whose six Olympic medals include four gold, said upon arrival on Monday in Rio de Janeiro.

She and her team-mates are touted as a threat to grab all eight diving golds on offer at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre.

The closest they’ve come to such a sweep was in front of home fans in Beijing in 2008, when they won seven diving events.

They won six in Athens in 2004 and again in London four years ago.

Minxia claimed two of those London golds, in the 3m springboard and in the synchronised 3m springboard with He Zi.

This time around, the 30-year-old will compete only in the synchronised event with Shi Tingmao, so she’ll have just one chance to surpass the record of six diving medals amassed by her “big sister” and former team-mate Guo Jing-jing – a mark Minxia equalled in 2012.

Despite the strength of the Chinese team, Minxia said the outdoor diving venue could make for unexpected challenges.

“I know I may encounter difficult situations here, including the cold conditions. But I have to accept the difficulties and try to cope with them well,” said Minxia, who will be competing in her fourth Olympics.

The prospects are good, as she and Tingmao are two-time world champions in the synchro springboard.

The Chinese swept all four women’s events in London, but American David Boudia denied Qiu Bo in the men’s 10m platform and Russian Ilya Zakharov snatched the springboard gold over Qin Kai.

Boudia is aiming to become the first US man since Greg Louganis in 1984 and 1988 to win back-to-back Olympic platform golds while Qiu Bo, who has won the 10m title at the last three world championships, is after the Olympic title that has eluded him. — AFP