China extended its diving dominance with a victory in the men’s 10 meters synchronised platform on Monday, giving the country its second gold medal on the boards at the London Olympics. Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan totalled 486.78 points in the six-dive final, spoiling the gold-medal hopes of Great Britain’s Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield, who were shut out.
German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia of Mexico had the highest degree of difficulty in the competition and it paid off with the silver. They scored 468.90. Nick McCrory and David Boudia of the USA took the bronze with 463.47.
The Americans are two-for-two after Abby Johnston and Kelci Bryant earned the silver in the 3m synchro springboard on Sunday, ending a 12-year medal drought. Daley and Waterfield, who won a silver in the same event in Athens 2004, led through the first three rounds, but botched their fourth dive and dropped to fourth, where they eventually finished with 454.65 points.
They could have given the host country its first gold of the Games, which Daley had said was his goal, but they couldn’t recover from their error. The crowd, so raucous before the competition and through the early rounds, gasped when Daley and Waterfield missed on a reverse 3-1/2 somersault tuck. Both men were out of sync in opposite directions and resembled a ‘V’ entering the water instead of being in vertical positions. Their mistake allowed the Chinese to regain the lead for good.
Yuan and Zhang were tied with the Brits after the first round, and stayed close behind in the early going. The Chinese didn’t have the same high degree of difficulty as the Mexicans, and the Brits and Americans tossed in tougher dives than Yuan and Zhang.
But the Chinese were solid, earning four perfect 10.0s for synchronisation in the round.
The result: 1. Cao & Zhang (Chn, 486.78 points); 2. Garcia Navarro & Sanchez Sanchez (Mex, 468.90); 3. Boudia & McCrory (USA, 463.47).
