China wins men's synchro 3m springboard gold

Luo Yutong (below) and Qin Kai of China won the men's synchronised 3m springboard gold medal at the Olympic Games in London on August 1, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

LONDON -- China's world champion Qin Kai and Luo Yutong asserted dominance in men's 3m springboard synchro final at London Olympics on Wednesday, adding the fourth diving gold to powerhouse China.

Qin and Luo, winners of the 2011 FINA World Championships, led all the way in the final and compiled 477.00 points to take the gold.

Russian duo Llya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov, world silver medallists and winners of the Moscow leg of the 2012 World Series, settled for silver in 459.63. The bronze medal went to American duo Kristian Ipsen and Troy Dumais who collected 446.70 points.

Qin and Luo, also champions of the World Cup in the same pool earlier this year, led the field from their first dive and expanded the gap step by step. They sealed victory after their fourth dive - an inward three-and-a-half somersault in tuck position, moving 27 points clear off closest chasers.

Their fifth dive, a most difficult forward four-and-a-half somersault in tuck position (109C) with a rating of 3.8, picked the highest score of 104.88 points in the final.

"The 109C (fifth dive) was the biggest challenge to us. If succeeded, we win, otherwise, we lose," said Qin.

"I told Luo (his partner) and myself we don't need to load too much pressure for flawless executions. Instead, we just need to give normal performance just as we did in routine training," said Qin, double Olympic champion in springboard individual and synchro events at Beijing Games.

"Then we did it," said the excited Qin.

"Only when we finished the 109C and watched the scoreboard, I was relaxed and at ease. I told Luo (his partner) and myself, the gold is already in hand," he added.

Luo, in his Olympic debut, said his back injury held him off, who made an Olympic title even harder and sweeter to him.

The Russian duo were tracing American bronze medallists after the first five dives with a third place, and took over them with a perfect final dive - the forward four-and-a-half somersault in tuck position, which they collected 100.32 points, edging Americans with 12 points overall.

"We came down to obtain medals, and we were sure we would get a medal," said Kuznetsov.

"My partner Ilya was slightly disappointed with the initial dives, but I kept on encouraging him. After the third and fourth dives we were kind of bombed because I couldn't interlock my hands, but we didnot give up and fought to the very end," he said.

"This is my first Olympics and I already have a medal. Everything is ahead of me and I am still determined to get more results," said the 22-year-old.

American veteran Dumais, 32, had competed in the springboard synchro at every Games since it was introduced as an official Olympic event in Sydney Olympics. It was his first Olympic medal.

"It's really been a dream. I competed in Sydney and Athens with my brother, which didn't go so well. So this medal is also for my brother," he said.

Mexico pair Yahel Castillo Huerta and Julian Sanchez Gallegos, bronze medallists of the 2011 World Championships, killed their chances for Olympic medal after their fifth dive, which saw them sliding from fourth to a final seventh position.

"I slipped on the springboard in the dive, and that cost us the medal," said Sanchez Gallegos.

Castillo Huerta, winner of the 2010 World Series Mexico leg, said he would move on and concentrate on the individual competition, which starts on Friday.

Canadian diving prodigy Alexandre Despatie, runner-up of the individual 3m springboard at Athens and Beijing Games, had bad luck in the final. Competing alongside his partner Reuben Ross, Despatie failed to step on the podium with a sixth place.

It seems Despatie, who was back to pool just weeks after smashing his head on the board during training in Spain, has yet to bounce back in an Olympic silver medalist style.

It is the fourth diving gold China has picked at the ongoing diving competitions at London Olympics. So far, the powerhouse had dominated the diving pool and swept all of the four synchro titles.