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July 28, 2021

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Teen duo extends diving win streak

Teen divers Chen Yuxi and Zhang Jiaqi blew their opponents away in the women鈥檚 10-meter synchronized platform yesterday, extending China鈥檚 winning streak in the event to six Olympic Games.

Aged 15 and 17, the pair 鈥 who hugged each other on the podium after receiving their gold medals 鈥 were in a league of their own at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

They finished on 363.78 points, more than 52 ahead of second-placed Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell of the United States.

鈥淲e do have an advantage in our age. We are short and light, and this means that our (water) entry is better than the others,鈥 said Zhang, world champion in the synchronized platform in 2019, after winning their country鈥檚 second diving gold in Tokyo.

鈥淥ur weakness is we are inexperienced. They have much more experience, we only have one world championships.鈥

Chen added: 鈥淥f course, we can feel the pressure because we are young, (but) we have nothing to lose. We are brave to face any challenges.鈥

However, Chen, a world champion in the individual event when she was only 13, cautioned that 鈥淚 hope we are not one-time wonders.

鈥淔rom a very, very young age I planted this seed and knew this was my dream.鈥

China has an unbeaten record in the event, which was introduced in 2000, while Parratto and Schnell鈥檚 medal was America鈥檚 first.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know (we could win silver) until pretty much the last dive. Just absolutely insane,鈥 said Parratto. 鈥淚 feel like this event is always so close, so there鈥檚 always that team that鈥檚 kind of fighting to get almost a bronze.鈥

Mexico鈥檚 Gabriela Agundez Garcia and Alejandra Orozco Loza took bronze with 299.70.

鈥淭his is the result of so many many many years of work,鈥 said Agundez Garcia. 鈥淢any years of fighting, of giving everything in every training session.鈥

Canada鈥檚 Meaghan Benfeito, who narrowly missed out on a fourth Olympic medal, is twice as old as the Chinese pair at age 32.

China鈥檚 dream of sweeping up all eight diving golds ended on Monday when Britain鈥檚 Tom Daley and Matty Lee took the men鈥檚 synchronized 10m platform title.

The competition resumes today with the men鈥檚 synchronized 3m springboard final.

China took gold on the first day of diving, in women鈥檚 synchronized 3m springboard.


 

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