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With its sights set on the Paris Olympics, China is once again demonstrating an overwhelming diving performance on the world stage.
Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi finished with 1 win and 2 losses in the men’s 3m on Wednesday, while Chen Yiwen and Zhang Yani achieved their third straight victory in the women’s synchro springboard.
China did not compete in the first two events of the Summer Olympics, which are held just five months before the Games, but have enjoyed an almost unbeatable record since then.
Aside from China’s 11th place in the men’s 1-meter springboard, a non-Olympic event in which only one diver participated, the diving powerhouse won gold medals in six other events. Most of them were solo victories.
Meanwhile, Sharon van Roeuwendaal of the Netherlands won the women’s open water individual race by winning gold in the 5km at Doha Old Port. A thrilling finishFrance’s Logan Fontaine won the men’s non-Olympic title.
Xie led in the qualifying and semi-finals at the Hamad Aquatic Center, but it was Wang who took control in the final. He completed one impressive dive after another to reach a total score of 538.70 points, relegating Xie to the silver medal with 516.10 points.
This was Wang’s second gold medal of the tournament, having teamed up with Long Daoi to win the synchronized springboard title.
Wang and Xie have monopolized the springboards in international tournaments, and will head to Paris as heavy favorites. Hsieh was a world champion in 2017 and 2019 and is also the current Olympic champion. However, Wang has won the last two world titles.
Mexico’s Othmar Olvera won his second medal of the tournament, winning the bronze medal with a score of 498.40, in addition to the gold medal in the 1-meter springboard. No other athlete even came close to the three medalists.
Chen and Zhang scored a total of 323.43 points in the synchronized event, while Australia’s Annabelle Smith and Madison Keeney won the silver medal with 300.45 points. Great Britain’s Scarlett Mew Jensen and Yasmin Harper won the bronze medal with 281.70 points, beating the American duo of Krista Palmer and Alison Gibson by just 2.4 points.
Chen and Zhang will also be the favorites in Friday’s 3-meter individual event.
Chen, 24, is a two-time reigning world champion on the diving board, with the 22-year-old winning silver in Fukuoka, Japan last summer and bronze in Budapest, Hungary the year before last.
Zhang has now won four synchronized 3m world titles and also won the championship in 2017 with Shi Tingmao.
Overall, China has won 13 consecutive gold medals in the event since its first appearance and second place at the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia.
Van Lowendaal further contributed to the victory by scoring the first goal in the 10km run with a time of 57:33.90. The 30-year-old has won three world championships and an Olympic gold and silver medal during her illustrious career.
Australia’s Chelsea Gubeka won the silver medal in 57:35.00, and Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha won the bronze medal in 57:36.80. This was Cunha’s 16th world medal, having finished on the podium in eight consecutive tournaments since 2011.
In the men’s race, Fontaine won out of the five competitors with a mad dash to the touchpad. He finished in 51 minutes, 29.30 seconds, beating his teammate Marc-Antoine Olivier by just 0.30 seconds, giving France a 1-2 finish.
Italy’s Domenico Acerenza won the bronze medal with a time of 51:30.00. Hungary’s Krzysztof Lasovski and Italy’s Gregorio Paltolinieri missed out on the podium.
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports
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