RENANG INDAH INDONESIA
(12/8). The Chinese were odds-on to go one better than at Beijing 2008 and
replicate their perfect record from last year's World Championships.
The sweep was on after the opening week of the Olympics when
all four of their synchro teams stood on the top podium.
But two of the most memorable Individual finals in Games
history denied them total dominance.
Arguably the most dramatic was in the men's 10m Platform on
the final night of competition when China 's biggest star, Qiu
Bo, took silver.
Qiu had been unbeatable for the past two years and
coasted to the world title 12 months ago.
The 19-year-old maintained the trend in the opening two
qualifying rounds before he came unstuck in one of the greatest Diving finals
of all time.
With a 17,500-strong crowd in attendence, Daley
attracted a single score of 10 for his final effort.
The 18-year-old's degree of difficulty paled in comparison
to Boudia and Qiu though, and when the USA diver produced a brilliant
effort before Qiu slightly missed his a stunning upset was
celebrated.
Boudia, who edged into the semi-final in 18th, was left
amazed while Qiu stood shattered as his quest for a first Olympic
gold was ended.
'It still hasn't sunk in that I had a gold medal, that I was
standing on the podium and the anthem was playing,' said Boudia.
'Diving is extremely competitive and the rest of the
world is catching up but they've stamped their feet on the sport, China .'
Four days earlier, Russia 's Ilya
Zakharov sprung another major surprise in the men's 3m Springboard.
Zakharov scored an astonishing total of 555.90 points
to get the better of China'sQin Kai and world champion He Chong.
'I just can't believe it as of now. I have done it finally,'
he said.
On the women's Platform, Chen Ruolin defended both her
titles winning the individual and synchro alongside Wang Hao.
The Chinese men's synchro teams were also dominant,
with Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan defying their youth to win
the Platform while Luo Yutong and Qin won the Springboard.
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