World champions Wang Feng and Qin Kai won the men’s synchronised 3m springboard title yesterday to continue China’s diving domination with the hosts’ fourth straight gold in Beijing’s diving pool.
The victory keeps the host nation on course for a sweep of diving golds.
The Chinese won by a staggering margin of 469.08 points compared with the 421.98 of Russian silver medalists Sautin Dmitry and Yuriy Kunakov while Ukrainian pair Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov took bronze with 415.05.
Qin and Wang made up for the disappointment of their last place in the same competition four years ago when they were hot favorites in Athens.
Having claimed gold in the FINA World Cup in February, the pair started by scoring three perfect 10 marks from the nine judges for their opening back pike.
With four rounds gone it was all over as the Chinese enjoyed a clear 20 point lead which they only extended.
“We performed very well,” Wang said. “We’ve coordinated for more than 20 months. That’s all for this event, so we should be focused and concentrate very well. This gold is so important to my life.”
“We have depth in our team,” Wang said. “We have a lot of different athletes from a lot of different provinces. Of course, we’re very rigorous in our training. That is why we achieve these results.”
Despite US pair Chris Colwill and Jevon Tarantino stumbling on their fourth round dive which put them sixth, the Americans recovered to claim fourth.
Canada’s Alexandre Despatie, who made Commonwealth Games history as the competition’s youngest gold medal winner at Kuala Lumpur in 1998 aged just 13, finished a disappointing fifth with partner Arturo Miranda.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping