China leaves Rio with seven gold medals in eight diving events, prevented from perfection by the men’s synchronized 3m springboard victory for Great Britain’s Jack Laugher and Chris Mears.
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Mexico’s silver medalist German Sanchez competes during the men’s 10-meter platform diving final in the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016. David Boudia of the United States, defending champion of the event, took bronze with 525.25 points.
Qiu Bo’s wait for an Olympic gold medal goes on after the Chinese star surprisingly finished sixth in the men’s 10 metre platform diving at the Rio Games.
“Especially the gold medal for the individual event, I never thought that I would become the champion”.
Boudia registered flawless 10 marks on both his second and fifth dives, the latter of which was a back 2 ½ somersaults with 2 ½ twists, Boudia drawing roars from the crowd.
Chen had never won a major global 10-meter individual title, having more success in synchronized platform, winning gold in Rio and at last year’s world championships.
The 23-year-old made a bright enough start, but a dive that scored 47.25 points – followed by a later one earning just 47.50 – cost him any chance of a podium finish. He entered the pool crooked on a forward 4.5 somersault attempt, which garnered a score of 68.45.
“My take-off is absolutely flawless but I can not find the bottom to save the life of me”. But I chose to do it at the end of this competition because I wanted that pressure.
“There are always a lot of frustrations and difficulties when you’re pursuing a dream, it wouldn’t be called a dream if it was that easy to fulfill”, said Qiu, when asked how he felt about missing the Olympic gold medal for the second time. “A few times people have talked bad about me and now this”, Sanchez said. “I love diving too much to not watch”, said Daley.
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“You’re doing 18 dives off a three-story building, your body’s beat up, you’re tired, mentally exhausted”, Boudia said. You just saw what Qiu Bo did, you just saw what Tom Daley did, get 18th place in the semi-finals.
