|
|
Thursday, September 28
U.S. men miss bronze by fraction
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- The Chinese won two more diving golds.
The medal-starved Aussies gladly settled for a pair of bronzes. The
Americans got nothing at all.
Xiong Ni captured his second gold medal of these games, teaming
with Xiao Hailiang to dominate the men's synchronized 3-meter
springboard Thursday (Wednesday night ET).
|  | | Laura Wilkinson, left, and Jenny Keim finished fifth overall in the women's 10-meter event. |
The story line was the same for women's synchronized 10-meter
platform, where Li Na and Sang Xue routed the rest of the
eight-team field.
The Americans, meanwhile, were all out of sync.
David Pichler and Troy Dumais finished fourth in the men's
event, missing a bronze by less than two points. On the women's
side, Laura Wilkinson and Jenny Keim sobbed in disappointment after
slumping to fifth.
"We thought we could do a little better," Wilkinson said
before she was awash in tears. "It just wasn't our day."
This day belonged to the world's most dominant diving nation -- wth a nod to the home team, as well.
The Chinese, who devote more time to synchronized training than
other countries, never trailed in either event. The Aussies, who
had captured only one medal in their diving history, picked up two
about an hour apart.
Rebecca Gilmore and Loudy Tourky won bronze in platform, while
Robert Newberry and Dean Pullar earned a medal of the same color on
springboard.
A near-sellout crowd at the Sydney International Aquatic Center
waved flags and chanted "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!"
"We hope this is going to lift the profile of diving in
Australia immensely," Newberry said.
Pichler, a 32-year-old from Butler, Pa., diving in his second
Olympics, and Dumais, 12 years younger, started slowly before
making a run for a medal on their last two dives.
They received marks of 7.5 and 8.0 for their final effort, a
forward 2½ somersault with two twists that equaled the highest
degree of difficulty of any dive in the event.
But Newberry and Pullar pulled off high enough marks with a
reverse 1½ somersault with 3½ twists to finish with 322.86 points.
Pichler and Dumais, of Ventura, Calif., had 320.91.
"I guess it wasn't good enough," Dumais said. "We didn't miss
a thing. There was nothing more we could have done. I don't know
what the judges think or what they saw."
They saw a dominating performance by the Chinese men, who picked
up mostly 9s and 9.5s for a total of 365.58. Dmitry Sautin and
Alexandre Dobroskok of Russia took silver with 329.97.
"I came a long way, the hard way," said Xiong, who came out of
retirement to bolster China's team. "I'm very happy to win two
gold medals. I persevered through the adversity."
Xiong, who also defended his Olympic title in the individual
3-meter, said he will retire again after competing in the Chinese
national championships.
Li and Sang sank the women's field with four 10s on their second
effort, creating hardly a splash as their lithe bodies knifed
through the water.
The Chinese finished with 345.12 points. Canada's Anne Montminy,
bronze medalist on the tower, and Emilie Heymans took silver with
312.03.
"I'm very excited, but I wasn't very surprised," Li said. "It
was normal."
Wilkinson and Keim were second after the third of five dives,
only to fall out of a medal spot with an inward, 2½ somersault that
drew scores no higher than 6.5 for execution.
Wilkinson, of The Woodlands, Texas, broke down after being
reminded that she already had an individual gold for the 10-meter
platform.
"I know," she said. "But I wanted this for Jenny, too."
Li won her second medal of the games, also taking silver in the
individual platform.
"The Chinese were way better," Montminy said. "They were
practicing for two years. We practiced for 1½ months."
Gilmore and Tourky fired up the home crowd by claiming bronze at
301.50 -- the country's first diving medal since Richmond Eve in
1924. He won gold in men's plain high diving, which was dropped
from the program after that year.
Austria was fourth at 294.00, followed by the Americans with
291.42.
The powerful Chinese, relegated to silvers in the first three
diving events of these games, have picked up three golds in a row.
They also ranked 1-2 heading into the evening final of women's
3-meter springboard.
Keim, a two-time Olympian from Miami, likely squandered her best
chance for a medal. She was eighth after the springboard
semifinals.
Fu Mingxia, the top seed, was trying to join Americans Greg
Louganis and Pat McCormick as the only divers to win four gold
medals
|  | |
ALSO SEE
Chinese diver wins record-tying fourth gold medal
|
