The untouchables
China finish off single greatest Olympic diving contest
TOKYO: China finished off the single greatest diving performance in Olympic history, when
Cao Yuan outduelled his teammate to win the men’s 10m platform title, giving the Chinese gold medals in seven of eight events at the Tokyo Games.
China’s 12 diving medals tied the record for most won in the sport at a single Olympics. The US also won 12 at the 1932 Los
Angeles Games, when the Americans swept all four events and nine of the 28 divers were from the host country.
The only event the Chinese didn’t win in Tokyo was men’s platform synchro, where they finished second. China swept the four women’s events. In further confirmation of the country’s dominance, China finished 1-2 in all four of the individual events.
“The Chinese are very, very good,” said Britain’s Tom Daley,
who partnered Matty Lee, to win the 10m platform synchronised gold medal.
“You just know they’re going to win gold and silver. In female diving, they are so far ahead of the rest of the world, but in men’s, we’re slowly catching up.”
China’s 47 total golds in diving is only one short of the United States’ record of 48.
Cao Yuan became the first diver to win gold medals in three different Olympic events.
He totalled 582.35 points for six dives. His teammate, Yang Jian, took silver with 580.40.
“It’s a really healthy competition within Team China,” Yang Jian said through a translator.
“Every time you practise, you want to do better. If one person trains more, the next person tries to step up. We push each other.”
Daley briefly broke up the Chinese juggernaut before finishing third with 548.25 points. – AP