China amasses third diving gold

LONDON - Chinese duo Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao captured gold in women's 10m platform synchronized diving at London Olympics on Tuesday, adding the third gold to the diving powerhouse.

Chen and Wang, winner of the 2011 FINA World Championships, amassed 368.40 points after their five precise dives, some 25 points clear off silver medallists Mexican star Paola Espinosa Sanchez and her new partner Alejandra Orozco Loza in 343.32.

The bronze medal went to Canadian pair Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito who collected 337.62 points.

China's Wang Hao (top) and Chen Ruolin perform a dive during the women's synchronised 10m platform final at the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre July 31, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Five confident and precise dives from the Chinese duo rewarded them the expected victory. They seemed extremely calm even after they saw their names atop the scoreboard after the last dive, which they achieved 88.32 points including a 10.

They led the field and secured their dominant position right after the second dive. The highest score of 89.28 in the final came from their fourth dive, an inward three-and-a-half somersault in tuck position, the most difficult in their program with a rating of 3.2.

"I think the final is just like a normal test to my routine training. The victory is expected so I was not overjoyed," said Chen, winner of platform synchro and individual at Beijing Olympics.

"The biggest rival to us is ourselves. We gave our best today," she said. "Each of us is skilled and compact in executions of every dive, and we also had good synchronization. That's the key to our success," said the 19-year-old.

British pair Sarah and Tonia Couch, winner of this year's European championships, suffered the agony of sliding from first position to seventh after their third dive, an inward three-and-a-half somersault in tuck position. They only finished as the fifth.

"It was our best dive in an international competition, so we won't be too sad," said Couch.

"We did try hard for an Olympic medal, but failed to do quite enough to achieve it," she added.

Australian veteran Loudy Wiggins, the eldest diver in London, was heartbroken with an empty hand of medal, finishing the fourth with her partner Rachel Bugg.

"The Chinese divers were amazing, too hard to be defeated," she admitted. The 33-year-old was bronze medallist in the event in Sydney and Athens.

So far, Chinese divers have swept all of the three gold medals on offer at Olympic diving competitions, with another two in men's 3m springboard synchro and men's 10m platform synchro.