After being second until the last round of the semifinals, Xie Siyi (CHN) then performed an outstanding forward 4 ½ somersaults (tuck), scoring 100.70 and finishing first, ahead of his teammate Wang Zongyuan. It was a strong sign to his main contender, underlining that the final had to be contested until the last minute of it. In the second individual diving medal-event of these Games, the men’s 3m springboard, the Chinese pair Xie/Wang confirmed its favourite status, and Xie once more reaffirmed his dominance in the event, getting the gold in 558.75. Wang was second in 534.90, while the bronze went to the third best also in the semis, Jack Laugher (GBR), in 518.00.
This is the second title (and Olympic
medal) for Xie, after the gold in the synchro event, but also a logic
consecration after the two world crowns in the last FINA showcases – Budapest
2017 and Gwangju 2019. Xie was also world champion in the 1m at the 2015 FINA
Worlds in Kazan (RUS). Throughout the final, the 25-year-old kept his
concentration and determination at the highest level, not committing any major
mistake. His best score was achieved in the final round, also with the forward
4 ½ somersaults, tuck (109C), for which he received 102.60 points. Moreover,
for Team China this is the fifth gold in diving at these Games, out of six
events contested so far (the Asian powerhouse only lost the men’s 10m platform
synchro to the British pair Tom Daley and Matty Lee).
Wang, who paired with Xie for the
gold in synchro, was also quite solid throughout the six-dive final, excelling
also in the 109C (same points as Xie). At almost 20 (on October 24), he is
definitively one of the stars of the Chinese team with best potential to
continue winning medals at this level. Before the Tokyo rendezvous, Wang’s main
achievement was a world gold medallist in the 1m springboard in Gwangju 2019.
Since 1996, this is the sixth (out of
seven) Olympic title for China in this event: the only time the Asian lost the
gold was in 2012, when Qin Kai was second, behind an amazing Ilya Zakharov,
from Russia. In Rio 2016, it was Cao Yuan’s occasion to shine, followed by
Laugher.
The British ace was naturally aiming
at repeating that performance, but the Chinese duo was too strong this
afternoon at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. The 26-year-old, with two Olympic
medals before arriving in Japan – Rio 2016 gold in 3m synchro and silver in
individual -, has also two third places at World Championships in this event,
in 2015 and 2019. Laugher’s best dive during the final was also the 109C, but
“only” with 96.90.
The fourth position went to Haram
Woo, from Korea, very consistent during the three rounds of the competition.
Concluding in 481.85, he also managed a convincing 109C, scoring 91.20 in the
third round.
The final was particularly emotional
for Rommel Pacheco (MEX) and Ken Terauchi (JPN), finishing their long career
here in Tokyo. For Pacheco (sixth in 428.75), 35 years old, it’s the end of a
trajectory that included three medals at the FINA World Championships (two
silver and one bronze), while at 40 (to be completed this Saturday), the
Japanese star received a standing ovation from all the athletes present in the
stands, celebrating a career that spanned for 25 years – he took part at the
1996 Olympics in Atlanta and got a bronze in the 3m springboard event at the
2001 FINA World Championships, in Fukuoka (JPN). For his farewell, he 12th of
the final, in 359.70.
Five hours earlier, in the semis, and
besides the above-mentioned Chinese duel for the top positions, strategy had
played a huge role in the qualification of the best 12 for the final. Then,
more than ever, the right choice of the Degree of Difficulty (DD), combined
with the ability of correctly performing the dives, dictated the outcome of
this intermediate stage. The first to pay the price for perhaps daring too much
(by choosing high DD) were the two Colombians selected after the preliminaries.
Both Daniel Restrepo (winner of this event at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games) and
Sebastian Morales were not up to the difficulty of their programme and failed
on several occasions. In the end, they concluded in 17th and 18th,
respectively.
For Jonathan Ruvalcaba (DOM), 13th
and first non-qualified for the final, his six rounds also did not go as
expected, while Mexico’s Osmar Olvera (14th) also shook in some of his most
complicated combinations. Finally, Yona Knight-Wisdom (JAM, 15th) and Alexis
Jandard (FRA, 16th) started well their six-round semi-final, but technical
mistakes in the entry for the Jamaican and disorientation in the air at the
board for the French dictated their non-qualification for the final.
On the other side of the field, both
Anton Down-Jenkins (NZL) and Kerauchi chose easy programmes and executed them
quite well and solidly. That was enough to guarantee the place in the final,
respectively with the eighth and seventh best score of the semis. The
representative of New Zealand would repeat the same ranking in the final,
closing the top-8 of the competition.
In the preliminaries, on Monday, the
fate had been unfavorable to Patrick Hausding (GER), only 21st after several
problems with his dives. The most notorious was a loss of balance in his third
round, before performing a forward 2 ½ somersaults 2 twists. The German star
had to restart and got a 2.0 deduction from each of the judges, for a total of
32.30. The fourth and sixth combination weren’t also successful (45.90 and
52.65) and the 32-year-old finished in this difficult way his participation in
Tokyo, after getting the bronze in the synchronised event. In Rio 2016, he had
also been third in the individual 3m, while his best Olympic participating
remains London 2012, with a silver medal in the 10m synchro.
"The performance was really
unsatisfying. I can't explain it. I was feeling very good, I was not nervous at
all, at least not until I failed the first time. I'm missing the words. In
comparison to what happened six days ago, this is the complete opposite. I’ve
barely dealt with such a competition like that in my career. And so I don't
know what to say. I'm just sad. But that’s diving - everything is decided in
milliseconds”, offered Hausding after the preliminaries.
The heats were also a nightmare for
Nikita Shleikher, finishing in a disappointing 24th position. The Russian (22
years old) never appeared focused on his mission, and despite two final regular
rounds, the initial four combinations were all shaky. His teammate Evegnii
Kuznetsov advanced to the final, to conclude fifth (461.90), despite two
excellent final dives, but a miserable fourth round that spoiled the chance for
an eventual medal.
Michael Phelps Teaches Swimming
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