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| China's Peng Bo dives during the men's three
metre springboard final at the Athens 2004 Olympic
Games (news - web sites), August 24, 2004. Peng
Bo won gold, Alexandre Despatie of Canada the silver medal
and Dmitri Sautin of Russia won bronze.
(Reuters) |
The Chinese finished in a familiar spot at the
Olympic diving pool. Peng Bo held off Canadian teenager Alexandre
Despatie and four-time Olympian Dmitri Sautin of Russia to win the 3-meter
springboard
Tuesday night, giving the Chinese men their
third straight gold medal in the event.
Overall, the Chinese have won four diving golds in Athens, putting the
powerful team in position to equal or beat its five golds from Sydney in
2000.
"It's very difficult for me to describe my feelings," Peng said. "I
feel excited and also very calm."
Peng sure bounced back from the disappointment of synchronized
springboard, in which his partner, Wang Kenan, entered the water totally
out of control on the final dive. The belly-flop landing was so bad that
the duo scored no points, dropping them from first to last place.
Diving alone, Peng didn't blow it. His dives -
often performed with his mouth wide open - featured stunning height off
the board, tightly wrapped turns and hardly a ripple
when he entered the water.
He received five 10s on his second dive, another perfect mark on his
fifth and never saw a score lower than 8.0 the entire night.
Peng clinched the gold with one last splash of
brilliance - a forward 2 1/2 somersault
with two twists. The diminutive 23-year-old climbed from
the pool, turning to bow toward the water as the Chinese fans screamed and
waved their red-and-yellow flags.
The result wasn't in doubt. A string of 9s flashed across the
scoreboard, along with an unbeatable total of 787.38 points. The gold
belonged to Peng.
He wasn't ready to look ahead to 2008, when he could dive in his home
country as the defending Olympic champion.
"From the Chinese point of view, it is very
difficult to think that far ahead," he said. "The Chinese tradition is to
do things step by step. I have the gold medal today. It doesn't
mean I'm going to have it forever."
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-08-25 13:53