It was necessary to wait for the 10th and last final in Windsor (CAN) and 30th overall at the 2016 FINA Diving World Series to see China missing a gold medal in this competition. It happened today at the conclusion of the third leg of the circuit and the responsible for this “feat” was host country Canada, in the mixed 3m springboard synchro. Wang Han and Yang Hao did not make any serious mistake, they just “forgot” to select dives with a higher Degree of Difficulty. In fact, China was leading until the last round, but Canada’s pair (Jennifer Abel/François Imbeau-Dulac) then presented a DD 3.4 combination, while the Asian athletes performed a DD 3.0. That was enough to make the difference – in the end, even performing slightly worse, Canada got the so-desired gold in 345.69, while China had to content with silver in 343.50. The bronze went to Dolores Hernandez and Jahir Ocampo, competing under the FINA flag, in 313.65.

“We’re very happy because today was our best performance ever, we set a new personal best”, confessed Jennifer Abel. “Obviously it feels good to be winning at home, in front of a friendly crowd. I think Jennifer and I can be very proud. The degree of difficulty of our last dive was higher than the Chinese’s one, so we knew that if we nailed that dive, we had a shot at the podium", explained François Imbeau-Dulac.

However, this mixed event is not in the Olympic programme. Considering that the main contenders for the medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games are also participating in the FINA/NVC Diving World Series, it is fair (and legitimate) to ask until which extent China can be challenged in Brazil this summer. So far, the Asian powerhouse collected a near-perfect 29-win streak before the last stop of the competition in Kazan (RUS, April 22-24). Moreover, in the four individual events in Canada (3m and 10m for men and women), where the participation of two divers  per nation is allowed, China only missed the 1-2 in the women’s 10m platform, where it had only entered one competitor.  

Men’s 10m platform
In the most awaited final of these three days, the men’s 10m platform, the three medallists from the 2015 World Championships in Kazan (RUS) and from the 2012 Olympic Games in London (GBR) were competing in Windsor. Qiu Bo (CHN, three-time consecutive world champion in 2011, 2013 and 2015) and David Boudia (USA, the reigning Olympic champion) were naturally the favourites in the final, but Thomas Daley (GBR, bronze medallist in 2015 and 2012) was the third man to be considered.

In the end, none of these three athletes got the gold in Canada: the victory went for the second Chinese of the final, Chen Aisen, in a total of 590.15 (his personal best and the fifth-highest score ever in this event at the World Series). Getting five perfect 10s throughout his programme, Chen was the most regular diver in the final, advancing his teammate by almost 20 points – Qiu Bo got the silver in 571.25, and was the author of the best dive of the Windsor rendezvous, a final 109C (forward 4 ½ somersaults in the tuck position) amassing six (out of seven marks) perfect 10s from the judges.


Chen Aisen (CHN) - Photo by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia

Being Chen’s only third win so far in this event, it was however China’s 38th gold medal in 42 individual platform events. Bo’s silver is his World Series all-time leading 23rd medal in the 10m platform. No other diver has more than 16 medals.

“I was very surprised to win today. I have a lot of pressure because Qiu Bo is older, has more skills and has won more medals than me. It makes me very proud to be sharing the podium with him”, admitted Chen Aisen.

Tom Daley had to content with bronze in a distant 536.50. The British star now owns 16 medals in this event at the World Series, including three gold, but had missed out on the podium thus far in 2016 (4th in Beijing, 7th in Dubai). Boudia, who had collected eight medals in 17 participations in this event (four silver, four bronze), failed to reach the podium in his last four individual platform events at the World Series, before Windsor. Today, he was also away of the medal contention, finishing fourth in 533.05. His weakest dive: the 109C where he got only 75.85 – by comparison, Qiu’s score in this combination was a massive 111.00 points.

Women’s 3m springboard
In the first final of the day, China made also the one-two in the women’s 3m springboard, with He Zi getting the gold in 401.55 and Shi Tingmao (2015 world champion in this event) earning silver in 394.05. The two Asian divers were always in control of the final, with He assuming the lead after the third dive, a well-executed forward 3 ½ somersaults, in the pike position. He is the third diver to cross the 400-point mark in this event at the World Series, after Guo Jingjing (CHN, 413.60, Nanjing 2007) and Wu Minxia (CHN, 402.30, Beijing 2011) – all her 35 marks during the final were between 8.5 and 9.5, demonstrating the regularity (and quality) of her programme! Moreover, this was China’s 41st gold medal in women’s individual springboard at the World Series and their 24th 1-2 in this event.

“I am happy that I was able to win today, I had a very good competition. Shi Tingmao and I are always cheering each other up, we go through these competitions together. Every time she wins I learn something from her and hopefully this time I can teach her something as well”, considered He Zi.

The bronze went to the “best of the rest of the world”, Canada’s Jennifer Abel, in 386.55. Despite Tania Cagnotto 29th World Series appearance in this event, and her 22nd final, the Italian star couldn’t get her 11th medal in the individual 3m springboard and concluded in fifth.


The women's 3m springboard podium - Photo by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia