China loses men's platform diving titles in two Olympics

LONDON -- Diving giants China tasted its second defeat in the men's 10m platform at London Olympics on Saturday as world champion Qiu Bo was beaten by American David Boudia in the last attempt.

The diving powerhouse has grabbed six of the eight diving titles in London, falling short in men's springboard and platform events.

Qiu's loss to Boudia also marks China's successive failure in the event following Beijing Games.

In Saturday's men's 10m platform final, Qiu, who beat Boudia to gold at the 2011 World Championships, failed to resist Boudia's revenge and lost to him in the last dive.

The two tied before the last round. Boudia produce a near faultless back two-and-a-half somersaults with two-and-a-half twists in pike position to score the highest 102.60 points of the final.

Qiu responded with 100.80 for the same dive, 1.8 points behind Boudia to settle for a silver.

The bronze medal went to British home favorite Tom Daley.

Boudia's success made him the first gold medalist on the 10m platform since his coach Greg Louganis, one of the greatest divers of all time, won in 1988.

Qiu's loss to Boudia also marks his first failure on the platform in recent two years. The 19-year-old has been dominant on the World Series since 2010 in both 10m platform and synchro platform.

Tipped as the overwhelming favorite in the event, Qiu led both of the preliminaries and semifinal as the top qualifier. He was very sad and disappointed with the result and wept after the games.

"Boudia had a convincing triumph over me today. I have gone through so many matches before but this one (platform final) was the most tense one which made me extremely nervous," said Qiu.

He admitted his disappointment for the silver medal.

"I am a little disappointed, but still glad for a medal at my first Olympic Games," Qiu said.

It is the second Games running where China have failed to win the men's 10m platform. Four years ago in Beijing, Aussie Matthew Mitcham turned over China's Zhou Luxin in his last dive to win the event, denying the Chinese a clean sweep of all eight medals in their home Games.

The loss means more and more foreign divers are catching up with China in the competitions which have been dominated by the country for years.

"Everyone knows China is dominant in every single diving events. But we can win," said Boudia.

"The rest of the world is catching up with China, and set feet on its dominance," said the 23-year-old.

Qiu said it 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 could challenge it," said the 19-year-old.

"I think that (lose and win) is the charm of the sports. I will be back in four years time," he added.