Once again at the London Olympics, China stood on the top of the platform again, winning the men's 3-meter springboard synchronized event.
After the second round of diving, China's gold medal seemed secure. As the nerves settled, it was up to the other teams to determine who else would make the podium.
Gold
The team from China is led by Kai Qin who won the gold in the same event in the 2008 Bejing Olympic Games. In Bejing Qin also took the bronze medal for the individual 3-meter springboard event. Qin is diving with a new partner, Yutong Luo. Together, they performed highly technical dives in strong unison to win the gold.
Silver
Taking the silver medal in the competition was the team from Russia. This team also consists of a strong established diver in Evgeny Kuznetsov, and newcomer Ilya Zakharov. They entered the competition with the highest technical ratings for their dives. Doing the higher level of difficulty helped them earn high scores for a second-place finish. However, in round 4, while performing a dive with a difficulty of 3.5, the team score was fewer than 80 points, giving a moments question to their approach. The final-round dive for the Russians scored over 100 points, moving it up to second place.
Bronze
Coming in third in the men's springboard competition was the U.S. team of Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen. This has been a long journey for Dumais, who at age 32 is among the oldest divers. In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, his team came close to a medal, but a mistake on one of the last dives caused them to miss the podium. It has been worth the wait, as he finally has an Olympic medal.
Of these six divers who made the podium, four will also compete in the individual 3-meter springboard event. Qin, Zakharov, Kuznetsov, and Dumais will face each other again on Aug. 6 when the men's individual springboard competition gets under way.
For the three diving events completed so far at the 2012 Summer Olympics diving competition, China has won the gold. These events include the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard, the men's synchronized 10-meter platform, and the women's synchronized 10-meter platform. Many experts are predicting that China could take the gold in every diving event in London.
The author has been active in water sports for over thirty years. She has a broad range of experience with diving and other water sports as competitor, coach, instructor, and fan.
Related articles by this contributor:
Ten Rules for the 2012 Summer Olympics Diving Competition
Scoring the Diving Competition at the London Summer Olympic Games 2012
Swimming Alcatraz: Six Key Tips
Sources
http://www.london2012.com/diving/event/men-synchronised-3m/phase=dvm201100/index.html
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