Boudia tops Qiu to pull off stunner
Source: Xinhua |
August 13, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA tasted its second defeat in diving at the London Olympics on Saturday as world champion Qiu Bo was beaten by American David Boudia in the men's 10-meter platform on the last attempt.
The diving powerhouse grabbed six of eight diving titles in London, falling short in men's 3m springboard and 10m platform events. Earlier in the week, Russian Ilya Zakharov beat defending champion He Chong in the springboard final.
Qiu's loss to Boudia also marked China's successive failure in the event following the 2008 Beijing Games, where Australian Matthew Mitcham overtook Zhou Luxin on his last dive to win the title, denying the Chinese a clean sweep of all eight medals at home.
In Saturday's 10m platform final, Qiu, who beat Boudia to gold at the 2011 world championships in Shanghai, failed to hold off his rival's charge, losing to him on the last dive.
The two were tied before the last round. Boudia produced a near faultless back 2-1/2 somersault with a 2-1/2 twist in pike position to score the highest 102.60 points of the final.
Qiu responded with 100.80 points for the same dive, 1.8 points behind Boudia to settle for silver.
The bronze went to British home favorite Tom Daley.
Boudia's success made him the first American gold medalist in the 10m platform since his coach Greg Louganis, one of the greatest divers of all time, won in 1988.
Qiu's loss to Boudia, 23, also marked his first failure on the platform in the past two years. The 19-year-old has been dominant in the World Series since 2010 in both 10m platform and synchro platform.
Despite the agonizing loss, Qiu said this will not be the end of China's dominance of diving. "I believe the Chinese diving team is the best and strongest in the world. Nothing can challenge it," he insisted.
The diving powerhouse grabbed six of eight diving titles in London, falling short in men's 3m springboard and 10m platform events. Earlier in the week, Russian Ilya Zakharov beat defending champion He Chong in the springboard final.
Qiu's loss to Boudia also marked China's successive failure in the event following the 2008 Beijing Games, where Australian Matthew Mitcham overtook Zhou Luxin on his last dive to win the title, denying the Chinese a clean sweep of all eight medals at home.
In Saturday's 10m platform final, Qiu, who beat Boudia to gold at the 2011 world championships in Shanghai, failed to hold off his rival's charge, losing to him on the last dive.
The two were tied before the last round. Boudia produced a near faultless back 2-1/2 somersault with a 2-1/2 twist in pike position to score the highest 102.60 points of the final.
Qiu responded with 100.80 points for the same dive, 1.8 points behind Boudia to settle for silver.
The bronze went to British home favorite Tom Daley.
Boudia's success made him the first American gold medalist in the 10m platform since his coach Greg Louganis, one of the greatest divers of all time, won in 1988.
Qiu's loss to Boudia, 23, also marked his first failure on the platform in the past two years. The 19-year-old has been dominant in the World Series since 2010 in both 10m platform and synchro platform.
Despite the agonizing loss, Qiu said this will not be the end of China's dominance of diving. "I believe the Chinese diving team is the best and strongest in the world. Nothing can challenge it," he insisted.
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