Chen Yiwen dedicated her gold medal in the three-meter diving to her injured best friend, while Wang Zhongyuan credited her victory at the 2024 World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final to the support of her family and fans.
XI'AN, April 20 (Xinhua) — Wang Zongyuan and Chen Yiwen added two more meaningful victories for China on the second day of the 2024 World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Finals held here on Saturday.
Chen led all five dives and finished first in the women's 3-meter dive with a total of 376.05 points. Italy's Chiara Pellacani won her first individual medal at the World Cup with a strong second place with 301.95 points, but Australia's Madison Keeney stalled on her last two dives and finished second with 291.15 points. He took 3rd place.
“Now the World Cup is over and it's the last big event before the Paris Olympics. I need to do better today and improve myself in training. I also hope that my gold medal will be with my synchro partner and I wish my best friend all the best.''Although Zhang Yani was injured before the Super Final, I hope he can give his best performance in Paris,'' Chen said.
Top-ranked Wang Zongyuan, who has remained undefeated since the Tokyo Olympics, fell below par with a score of 60.45 on his third dive. However, he managed to recover in his next two dives, and on his final dive he scored the day's highest score of 102.60, securing victory in the men's 3-meter diving with a score of 525.00.
“Maybe I was a little tired and lost concentration for a while. Thanks to the packed crowd, my fighting spirit and brave heart were able to cool down for the next round. In a tough fight “It was a meaningful lesson for me,” said Wang, 22, “just before the Paris Olympics, I learned how to deal with difficulties while competing.”
“My parents came to watch me compete today. They gave me a lot of courage and support, so I put my gold medal on my father's neck and my mascot Karagyu to my mother. “I did,” Wang said.
Mexico's Othmar Olivera Ibarra showed off his trademark dives on his final two attempts, propelling him to silver in 476.55 seconds. Great Britain's Jack Laugher, who had been in second place for five rounds, had a disappointing final dive and was forced to give up the bronze medal with a score of 472.85.
After two days of competition at the World Cup Super Final, China has won six gold medals so far, with Australia winning one. The women's and men's 10-meter races will be held on Sunday. ■