 Close to clean sweep
By Yu Yilei (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-20 08:31
China is closing in on a clean sweep of all eight diving golds on offer with He Chong winning the men's 3m springboard yesterday with a spectacular show in the Water Cube. He, a 21-year-old from Guangdong, scored 572.90 points, a massive 36.25 points ahead of the closest rival, Canadian Alexandre Despatie. Despite needing only 65 points in his last dive to secure the gold, he wrapped up his performance a superb dive that earned 100.7, the highest score of the night. Despatie took the silver with 536.65, followed by another, Chinese Qin Kai, with 530.1. Said He after his win: "I was nervous before stepping on the board. I have to thank the coach, the audience, the Chinese people for their strong support." He even thanked Despatie, his good friend and long-time rival. The Canadian has an extremely difficult year in which he suffered a back injury and then a fracture on his right foot only four months before the Beijing Games. Nevertheless, the 23-year-old posed a huge challenge, pushing He all the way. Said the Chinese: "I need to thank him for putting on a good show in front of the Chinese people. I was worried when we heard of his injury. I always hope I can compete with a fully-fit Despatie. I have applauded him." Qin agreed, saying: "Alexandre showed what a good diver he is, coming back from injury to be at his best. My heart goes out to him." Only a tiny seven-point margin separated He and Despatie after the first two dives. However, the Chinese was brilliant with his next three dives, earning him consecutive 90-plus scores, which increased the margin over the Canadian. Despatie finished his routine with an almost perfect dive that scored 96.9 points, but it was not enough to catch up with He. It was the second silver for the 2003 world champion Despatie, who finished behind Chinese Peng Bo four years ago in Athens. He also came in second to Qin during last year's World Championships in Melbourne. Said the Canadian: "I'm very happy about my performance today after an extremely difficult year. "The silver means the world to me. It is a gold to me."
It was also an emotional night for the Russian evergreen, 34-year-old Dmitry Sautin. The 1996 Atlanta Olympics champion put on a gallant battle with divers who were almost a decade younger than him. Still, he drew big cheers from Chinese fans every time he stepped on board, and was very close to a medal in his fifth Olympics. However, the degree of difficulty in his dives could not match those of other young divers, and he could finish only fourth. "It maybe the 'goodbye' performance," he said. (China Daily 08/20/2008 page7) |
