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Greek divers win first Athens gold
The Greek synchronized diving team of Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis took advantage of an extraordinary string of failed dives by some of the world's best Monday to claim the gold medal on the 3m springboard. While the Greeks capitalized on their opponents' mistakes, the US team of Troy and Justin Dumais did not. In second fter four dives, the brothers needed an 81.94 on their last dive, but recorded a disastrous 55.65 to fall out of medal contention.
German divers Andreas Wels and Tobias Schellenberg won the silver; Steven Barnett and Robert Newberry of Australia took the bronze. Greece's first medal of the Athens Games sparked a raucous celebration at the Olympic Aquatic Centre. With a Greek flag flowing behind them, Siranidis and Bimis led a spontaneous lap on the pool deck and dragged a group of spectators into the pool.
Team members and others joined arms and danced in a circle before a chanting and cheering crowd. Some fans wept. The medal ceremony set off a whole new set of celebrations. It was the first diving medal for Greece in Olympic history. "It's amazing," Dimas said. "It's a miracle. I can't describe it." While many Greek teams are at the Athens Games by virtue of their home team status. Siranidis and Bimis earned their spot at the World Cup event here in February. Still, the Greeks had no chance at a medal, much less gold, until dives began to unravel for the leaders on their fifth and final dives. First, the Chinese team of Peng Bo and Wang Kenan, leaders after four dives, scored a zero when Wang could not complete the final dive, a forward 2-1/2 somersault pike with two twists. Wang dipped his head and lost his way in the air, landing in the water on the back of his neck. The judges do not award points when a competitor fails to complete a dive. China's gaffe opened the door for the world champion Russian team of Dmitri Sautin and Aleksandr Dobroskok. But on their dive -- a reverse 2-/2 somersault pike with 1-1/2 twists -- Sautin clipped the board with his feet and barely completed his maneuver. One judge scored the dive .05 and the Russians sank to seventh, one spot ahead the last-place Chinese. "We didn't see them," Siranidis said in Greek through Bimis "We were concentrating on our job, nothing else." Then came the Americans' failed dive that secured the gold for the Greeks. The Dumais brothers finished in sixth, the best of three disappointing U.S. synchro diving performances. The loss for the Chinese was their first after three gold medals in the first three diving competitions of the Games -- all synchro events. Earlier Monday, Lao Lishi and Li Ting drew four perfect 10s from the nine judges on their second of five dives enroute an Olympic title in the platform event. On Saturday, the duo of Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia won gold in the women's synchronized 3m-springboard event. Later, Tian Liang and Yang Jinghui recorded six perfect 10 scores enroute to gold during their five-dive event. Also Monday, Americans Cassandra Cardinell and Sara Hildebrand finished seventh on the women's platform. Veteran American diver Mark Ruiz and his partner Kyle Prandi finished last in the men's platform on Saturday. |
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