China's Xie Siyi defends Olympic title in men's 3m springboard

Xinhua | Updated: 2024-08-08 22:27

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Gold medalist Xie Siyi (C) of China, silver medalist Wang Zongyuan (L) of China and bronze medalist Osmar Olvera Ibarra of Mexico attend the awarding ceremony after the men's 3m springboard final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug 8, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

PARIS - China's veteran Xie Siyi bested teammate Wang Zongyuan to defend his title in the men's 3m springboard diving event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Xie, 28, had won both the individual and synchronized events at the Tokyo Games, but only competed in the individual event in Paris.

Despite finishing behind 22-year-old Wang in both the preliminary and semifinal, Xie managed to push himself forward in the final, achieving a winning score of 543.60 points.

"I'm overwhelmed," said Xie, who took a two-year hiatus after the Tokyo Games and faced significant challenges in preparing for the Paris Games due to injuries and fitness issues.

"I didn't perform well in the preliminary and semifinal, I blamed myself for not showing my capability. Then I needed to adjust my mindset in a short time to be ready for the final," he added.

After Wang executed a below-par dive in the fifth round, Xie held his nerve to wrap up his performance with an amazing last dive, earning a high score of 100.70 points.

Wang, silver medalist of this event at the Tokyo Games, earned 1.9 more points than Xie from his sixth dive, but could only finish second again in 530.20.

"I already knew that I could not overtake the top position before the last dive, which actually made me feel calmer than ever," said Wang.

Wang, who claimed the synchronized gold with Xie in Tokyo, defended his title with new partner Long Daoyi on Friday.

"I'm still young and I look forward to coming back stronger four years later," added Wang, having won the event at the last three World Championships.

Mexico's Osmar Olvera Ibarra took the bronze in 500.40.

"I'm happy about everything that happened in this final. I'm happy about the medal," said the 20-year-old, who also grabbed a silver in the synchronized event in Paris.

"Olympics was one of my goals. I knew we could do it and I'm very happy about it," he said.

China's diving team has taken all six gold medals so far at Paris 2024, with two events still to go.

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