Olympics | Diving roundup: A clean sweep for China and some talents to shine

PARIS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's diving team showed its dominance with an even stronger performance by taking all eight gold medals on offer from the Paris Olympics.

After veteran Cao Yuan defended his title in the men's 10m platform on Saturday, China made a clean sweep in diving at the Olympic Games for the first time, clinching 55 titles in all from 11 editions of the Games.

Just as Great Britain's Noah Williams said after he took the bronze medal in the men's 10m platform, "In diving, I know in 100 percent that China gets the respect they deserve. I think if you ask anybody, they know that China is the best, and it's almost expected of them to win gold."

China started its gold-sweeping campaign from the women's synchronized 3m springboard. This was the first time that China had sent two Olympic debutants to compete in the event, but Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen held their nerve to win the sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal in this event for China since Athens 2004.

"We are grateful that many Chinese divers had set up a solid foundation for us with their great achievements," said Chang, who had paired up with Chen to clinch three world championship titles in a row. "And we will keep working hard to extend China's leading position."

Chen, 25, also added the gold in the individual springboard to her collection, while Chang managed to overcome a terrible first dive to finally grab the bronze.

Chen and Chang shared the podium with their close friend Maddison Keeney as the Australian added a silver to the bronze she grabbed at Rio 2016.

"I feel like these girls are like my sisters, and I'm really lucky to be able to have a really positive competitive relationship with them," said Keeney.

17-year-old Quan Hongchan also claimed two golds in Paris. The platform sensation kept casting her magic to make the water splash seemingly disappear as she had done in Tokyo three years ago, but she insisted that she's not a talent.

"The most difficult thing for me in the past three years was adjusting my movements for each dive," said Quan. "I had to modify my movements to overcome the increase in my body weight."

China is expected to maintain its dominance in diving for a long time, but some talents from other nations have also shown great potential.

Japanese teenager Rikuto Tamai, who was the arch-rival for Cao in the 10m platform final, only failed to nail his fifth dive, but still managed to claim the silver medal after receiving the highest score of 99 points in the final from a sensational last effort.

The 17-year-old became the first Japanese to win an Olympic medal in diving, and was confident that he would be a strong contender four years later.

"My goal is to reach the gold medal, because I believe I am in that position," Tamai said.

Mexico's Osmar Olvera Ibarra did not only take the silver in the men's synchronized 3m springboard, but also grabbed the bronze in the individual event."Those athletes are incredible divers. The best of the best," Ibarra talked about China's Xie Siyi who defended his platform title and the three-time world champion Wang Zongyuan who finished second.

"I think they are the reasons why I keep improving and I keep working hard. I am happy to have them as opponents because they push me."

While China led the medal standings in diving with eight golds, two silvers and one bronze, Great Britain showed the depth of its diving team with one silver and four bronze medals. Mexico and DPR Korea both collected one silver and one bronze, while Australia followed behind with one silver.