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China Achieves Golden Double on First Day of Diving
Chinese divers turned Thursday a day of their own by clinching the first two diving gold medals at the Universiade in Beijing.
Guo Jingjing and her teammate Li Rongjuan achieved a one-two finish in the women's 1m springboard event, the first event of the ten-event diving program at the Universiade. Two hours later, their compatriots Wang Tianling and Wang Feng repeated their feats with a second one-two finish in the men's 1m springboard.
Wang Tianling led the 6-strong final field throughout the six rounds of dives, winding up with 458.58 points, 13 points ahead of teammate Wang Feng, who beat him in the same event last month at the Fukuoka world championships.
At 445.74 points, Wang Feng had a shocking 59-point lead over the third, Imre Lengyel, who got 384.75 points.
Fernando Platas of Mexico, who won silver in the 3m springboard at the 2000 Olympics, garnered 360.48 points for a fourth. Greek Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Davidson from the United States were fifth and sixth with 351.57 and 343.26 points respectively.
Wang Feng, who won the 1m springboard title at the Palma de Mallorca Universiade in 1999, placed first in both the preliminary and the semifinal. But for the most part of the final, he remained the second behind Wang Tianling, except for the second round when he tied with his teammate for the top slot.
"I didn't do very well today with some of my dives," Wang Feng said after the defeat. "My entry was not good, and my approach to the board was also not satisfactory. I'm also a bit nervous today, " the 22-year-old said.
Wang Tianling, who won silver in both 1m and 3m springboard at last month's world championships, said he did not win the crown easily. "Everyone wants to get gold. It's the mental strength which is put to test (during the competition), not the technical skill," he said.
Hungary's Imre Lengyel, double gold medalist in the 1m and 3m events in the 1997 Universiade in Sicily, said he was honored to be able to get a medal in Beijing.
"I feel I'm honored to win a medal here in Beijing. They are very good divers, I'm happy that I can get a bronze," said the 24- year-old.
Earlier in the day, Guo Jingjing took the gold in the women's 1 m springboard with a total of 309.51 points. Li Rongjuan won silver with 285.51 points, before Russia's Natalia Oumyskova who got bronze with 281.16 points.
Guo, who won both individual and synchronized gold in the 3m springboard at the Fukuoka World Championships last month, was third after the second round. But she came to top in the following round with a tally of 179.85 points, nine points clear of her leading rival, Russian Natalia Oumyskova. She held the lead to the end of the final.
"The 1m springboard is not what I'm best at. Three meter springboard is better for me," Guo said after the victory at the Tsinghua University Natatorium. "I've been training hard for this Universiade."
"I always try my best at competitions, no matter it's an international one or a national one," said the 19-year-old, who is now studying sports training at the Beijing University of Physical Education.
Guo, who finished second in the 3m springboard at the Sydney Olympics last year behind teammate Fu Minxia, said she will strive for an Olympic gold.
"I didn't get gold at the Sydney Olympics, so my biggest goal right now is to win a gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004," Guo said.
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