OLYMPICS /
Team China
China divers go for second gold
China Daily/The Olympian
Updated: 2008-08-11 11:38
Chinese divers will go for their second diving gold medal today as young pair Lin Yue and Huo Liang compete in the men's 10m platform synchronized event this afternoon.
Lin, 17 and Huo, 18, have dominated the platform synchronized diving since the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where they claimed the gold medal.
In the last two years, they have swept gold medals at a series of international competitions, including the world series, the grand prix and world championships.
Chinese synchronised divers Huo Liang and Lin Yue practice off the 10M platform during a training session at the the National Aquatics Center also known as the Water Cube in Beijing on August 7, 2008. [Agencies] |
At the 2007 Melbourne World Championships, they won the gold by a margin of 22 points more than the runners-up.
In the "Water Cube", they won the title of the 16th FINA World Cup early this year, a test event for the Beijing Games.
Their biggest challenge will come from Russian pair Gleb Galperin and Dmitriy Dobroskok, the silver medalists at the 2007 worlds.
Due to Galperin’s spinal injury, the pair missed the world cup this year, but won at two grand prix series in Russia and Canada.
Robert Newbery and Mathew Helm from Australia will compete in their third Olympic Games this time in Beijing. The bronze medalist pair at the Athens Games retired after the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, but came back last year for the Beijing Games.
The American pair David Boudia and Thomas Finchum, the bronze medalists at the 2007 world championships, will pose difficulties as well.