China Gets Two More Titles in Diving and Taekwondo, Gold Tally Rises to 28

Chen Zhong Wins Women's 67kg Taekwondo Gold Medal

China put the last diving gold and silver in the 27th Olympic Games in its bag on Saturday in Sydney, when Tian Liang and Hu Jia swept aside defending champion Dmitri Saoutine of Russia and other rivals in the final.

The gold, the fifth China grabbed during the Games, made China's gold tally at the medal tally up to 28, a new record in Chinese Olympic history. China obtained 16 golds at both the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta games.

Minutes before the diving final, Chen Zhong outperformed Matalia Ivalova of Russia 8-3 in the women's over 67 kg taekwondo final.

Twenty-one-year-old Tian Liang totalled 724.53 points from the semi-final and final, as compared to the silver medallist Hu Jia's 713.55 points, and the bronze medellist Saoutine's 679.26 points.

Tian Liang Wins Men's Platform Gold

The Chinese have collected 10 diving medals, five of them gold. China's ability to claim five of the eight golds on offer has once more proved the country's dominating superiority in the diving sport.

However, the Chinese team had gone off to a rather slow start at the Games this time which saw them failing to achieve a title in the opening three events, namely the women's 10m synchronized platform and men's 3m synchronized springboard dives, and the women's 10m platform.

China came from behind to grab the next five golds, with world diving sensation Fu Mingxia defended her Olympic title in the 3m springboard, thus enabling her to become the third person to win four Olympic golds, together with Americans Greg Louganis and Pat McCormick.

Chinese four-time Olympic Xiong Ni won two golds at the Games, who defended his Olympic 3m springboard title and a second gold in the synchronized springboard event with partner Xiao Hailiang. Xiong has three gold, one silver and one bronze Olympic diving medals in his pocket, and is going to retire after the Sydney Games.

Though Fu and Xiong both leave, China's leading position in the diving pool will not change.

Fifteen-year-old Li Na and Sang Xue, 16, had earlier routed their rivals in the women's synchronized platform. And, Hu Jia, 17, got the silver medal for the 10m platform on Saturday. (source: chinadaily.com.cn)