SAINT-DENIS, France — One down. Seven to go.
China won its first gold medal in diving on Saturday on the first full day of competition in the Paris Olympics, a perfect start for the team of Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen.
China has ruled diving for decades, and three years ago in Tokyo it won seven of eight gold medals. But it has never pulled off the elusive gold sweep. That’s the goal this time.
The Chinese were first on Saturday in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard with 337.68 points on five dives. They were followed by Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook of the United States 314.64 points and the British team of Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen with bronze and 302.28 points.
The same Chinese duo also won gold in the last three world championships and were heavy favorites going in.
“We’re very happy to get the gold medal, of course,” Chen said.
The Americans followed China on all of their dives, seeing their performance and knowing what they had to do to match it. They also performed the same five dives as China.
“The Chinese have been the gold standard in diving for decades,” Cook said. “But we are peers with them, and the goal is to beat them one day. They are amazing competitors and hardly ever mess up.
“We’re not too far off,” Cook added. “You may see another flag being raised for a gold medalist at these Olympic games.”
Cook and Bacon noted that, as the favorites, the pressure is always on China. Less so on everyone else.
“Following China certainly helped us dive better,” Bacon added.
The crowd, heavy with Chinese fans and and flags, chanted “jiayou” - roughly translated “let’s go” - each time the Chinese walked out to dive.
This event was added in 2000, and Chinese women have won gold six times in seven Games. The only loss was to Russia in 2000. China won three years ago in Tokyo with Shi Tingmao and Wang Han.
Starting with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where China claimed its first diving gold, it had won 47 of 64 gold medals in diving. Add to that 23 silver and 10 bronze.
Starting the count from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China had won 27 of 32 gold at the Olympics.
These are the numbers before Paris. Now add another gold to the total and watch the numbers climb as the Olympics roll on.
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