Chen, Lin maintain gold rush
Print Edition
CHEN Aisen and Lin Yue won the men’s 10-meter synchronized Olympic diving competition on Monday to keep the powerhouse Chinese squad on course for a potential first-ever gold-medal sweep in Rio.
Chen and Lin never looked threatened throughout the six-round contest and went in for the kill on their fifth dive, a front 4-1/2 somersault tuck that won 9.5s and 10s from the dazzled judges.
The Chinese finished a comfortable 39.87 points ahead of silver medalists David Boudia and Steele Johnson of the United States, with British star Tom Daley and his partner Daniel Goodfellow coming third.
Lin, 25, became the first diver to win two gold medals in the men’s 10m synchro and he dedicated the victory to his parents, who sold their home to finance their son’s training when he was younger. “The only thing in my mind is that I have to do all I can do for my family to thank them for supporting me,” he said.
It was the second straight day that the Chinese anthem rung out over the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, and may not be the last.
China is the dominant force in diving, winning six of the eight gold-medal contests in London 2012, and seven of them in Beijing in 2008.
On Sunday, China’s Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao opened the competition with a decisive triumph in the women’s 3m synchronized springboard.
That made Wu the most decorated diver in history with five golds, surpassing a batch of others that included American legend Greg Louganis and former Chinese diva Guo Jingjing.
Over the course of Monday’s contest it became increasingly clear the only drama would be who got the silver and bronze.
The Americans pumped their fists on confirming silver on their sixth and last dive, and Daley and Goodfellow likewise celebrated rapturously on the night’s final plunge, tumbling into the pool in joy.
“When it (the score) came up, I pounced on Dan and I don’t think he was quite ready for it, so before we knew it we had done a seventh dive,” said Daley.
Daley and Boudia will return to the pool later in the competition to face off against Chen and his compatriot Qiu Bo in the 10m individual. Boudia upset Qiu in a thrilling final in London, one of only two golds won in 2012 by non-Chinese divers. Daley took the bronze.
The men’s and women’s teams are competing in a total of eight events: the 10m platform, the 3m springboard, and the synchronized versions of each.
Before the Rio Games began, China had won 19 of the 24 gold medals available across the men’s and women’s diving events at the three most recent Olympics.
The women are particularly strong, hogging all the gold in the past two Games.
Chen Ruolin, the two-time reigning champion in both the women’s 10m individual and synchro events, could tie Wu’s five gold medals if she wins yesterday’s 10m synchro event.
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