China made a clean sweep of the gold medals on offer at the 2006
FINA diving World Cup on Sunday.
Lin Yue and Huo Liang grabbed the gold in the men's synchronized
10m platform event to complete China's gold-winning spree at the
competition.
The teenagers held their top position from the first dive and
concluded their performance with a backward two-and-a-half
somersault two-and-a-half twist, which raked in 104.88 points.
They took the gold with a total 499.08 points, followed by
Americans David Boudia and Thomas Finchum with 443.22, and Kyung
Min Kwon and Kwan Hoon Cho of South Korea who finished with
434.52.
Lin, who turns 15 today, also took the silver in the men's 10m
platform event on Saturday.
The diving upstart made a name for himself in the international
circle when he clinched three golds in the 10m platform event at
this year's Grand Prix.
Earlier on Sunday, the world champion duo of Guo Jingjing and Li Ting breezed to the winner's podium in the
women's synchronized 3m springboard event with a total score of
343.80 points.
"I'm glad to conclude my World Cup journey with this gold, and I
'm satisfied with our performance," Guo said.
Ariel Rittenhouse and Kelci Bryant grabbed the second silver
medal for the US team by amassing 306.30 points. Germany's Heike
Fischer and Ditte Kotzian were placed third with 298.68 points.
Li won herself a gold in the synchronized 10m platform event
with compatriot Lao Lishi at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and
switched to the springboard afterwards.
Guo and Li have competed in this same event at five legs of the
Grand Prix so far this year and never lost their grip on the top
position.
Guo secured the gold in the 1m springboard final on the opening
day of competition on Wednesday, but let the chance of earning
China's 100th World Cup gold slip through her fingers when she only
managed a third place finish in the 3m springboard final. It was
her teammate Wu Minxia who did the honors.
China, hosts of the five-day competition, swept all 10 golds of
the tournament plus four silvers and one bronze. Russia, another
diving powerhouse, took home two silvers and one bronze.
The US team managed three silvers and two bronzes. With World
Champion Alexandre Despatie out of the running because of injury,
Canada could only secure three bronzes.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2006)
