Li retains 1m springboard gold at worlds
Source: AFP |
July 23, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE diver Li Shixin retained his world championship crown in the men's one meter springboard final in Barcelona yesterday.
Li, 25, recovered from a disappointing first dive to record a score of 460.95 points and hold off Ukranian Illya Kvasha on 434.30 and Mexican Kevin Chavez on 431.55, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Two stunning final dives saw Li come from fifth place after four of the six rounds to the top of the podium with.
Li had been heavily favored to retain the title he won on home soil in Shanghai two years ago after also registering the highest score in qualifying on Saturday. However, it was his compatriot Sun Zhiyi who made the early running as he led after the first two rounds.
Li moved into the top three for the first time after his third dive, but his chances of victory looked to be slipping away when a poor fourth attempt saw him slip back to fifth.
The penultimate round though was to prove crucial as the then leader Matthieu Rosset's disastrous attempt saw the Frenchman slip out of contention for a medal and Li followed up with the best dive of the competition so far with an inward two-and-a-half somersault pike that registered an 86.70 from the judges.
And he went one better in the final round with a 87.45 to seal his triumph and China's second gold after Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao were victorious in the women's synchronized 3m springboard on Saturday.
Also, gold medal favorites Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia of China topped the preliminaries in the women's 10-meter synchronized platform diving yesterday.
Chen is a three-time defending world champion in the event and a four-time Olympics gold medalist. She is competing with Liu for the first time, but the new duo showed no signs of unfamiliarity as they eased into the final later, which was scheduled for late yesterday, with a score of 340.92 through their five nearly flawless dives.
Meanwhile, Greece's Spyridon Gianniotis made up for missing a medal at the 2012 Olympics when sheer willpower carried him to the line to win the men's 10-km open water event yesterday. The 33-year-old attacked on the fourth and final lap around the Catalan city's picturesque Moll de la Fusta port and dug deep in the final meters to hold off a late charge from Thomas Lurz of Germany who came in second.
Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia, who won Saturday's 5-km race, faded in the closing stages but just managed to pip France's Damien Cattin-Vidal and Richard Weinberger of Canada to clinch third.
Li, 25, recovered from a disappointing first dive to record a score of 460.95 points and hold off Ukranian Illya Kvasha on 434.30 and Mexican Kevin Chavez on 431.55, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Two stunning final dives saw Li come from fifth place after four of the six rounds to the top of the podium with.
Li had been heavily favored to retain the title he won on home soil in Shanghai two years ago after also registering the highest score in qualifying on Saturday. However, it was his compatriot Sun Zhiyi who made the early running as he led after the first two rounds.
Li moved into the top three for the first time after his third dive, but his chances of victory looked to be slipping away when a poor fourth attempt saw him slip back to fifth.
The penultimate round though was to prove crucial as the then leader Matthieu Rosset's disastrous attempt saw the Frenchman slip out of contention for a medal and Li followed up with the best dive of the competition so far with an inward two-and-a-half somersault pike that registered an 86.70 from the judges.
And he went one better in the final round with a 87.45 to seal his triumph and China's second gold after Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao were victorious in the women's synchronized 3m springboard on Saturday.
Also, gold medal favorites Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia of China topped the preliminaries in the women's 10-meter synchronized platform diving yesterday.
Chen is a three-time defending world champion in the event and a four-time Olympics gold medalist. She is competing with Liu for the first time, but the new duo showed no signs of unfamiliarity as they eased into the final later, which was scheduled for late yesterday, with a score of 340.92 through their five nearly flawless dives.
Meanwhile, Greece's Spyridon Gianniotis made up for missing a medal at the 2012 Olympics when sheer willpower carried him to the line to win the men's 10-km open water event yesterday. The 33-year-old attacked on the fourth and final lap around the Catalan city's picturesque Moll de la Fusta port and dug deep in the final meters to hold off a late charge from Thomas Lurz of Germany who came in second.
Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia, who won Saturday's 5-km race, faded in the closing stages but just managed to pip France's Damien Cattin-Vidal and Richard Weinberger of Canada to clinch third.
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