DOHA, Qatar – On Tuesday, the teenage dynamos Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi won their third consecutive world championship title in women’s 10m synchro. They also extended a dynasty: the People’s Republic of China hasn’t been defeated this world championship event for 23 years now.

Quan and Chen earned three perfect 10s during the night to finish with 362.22 points, 41.52 points ahead of silver medalists Kim Mi Rae, 22, and Jo Jin Mi, 19, of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Great Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson of Great Britain had been the 2023 silver medalists, but this year they took bronze, 21.36 points behind the runners-up.

All the pairs on Tuesday’s podium performed the same five dives, in the exact same order. None said they planned to change their lists before the Paris Olympic Games this summer.

Rather, gold medalist Chen said, “I’m grateful to Hongchan Quan because she stood by me and she gave me strength and motivation.”

Quan returned the compliment, saying, “I always feel safe and assured when I compete along with [Chen].”

For the divers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Tuesday’s second-place finish meant a second world championship silver medal for each. Jo earned one on Day 2 in mixed 10m synchro, and Kim earned a 2017 silver in this event with a different partner.

In both cases, Kim said, “I am always trying to put the name of the country before my own name.”

As for the dive list, Kim said, “It is impossible for us to do it on a more difficult level right now” so for Paris, Kim said, they would “try to make them as close to perfect and mistake-free as possible.”

For Spendolini Sirieix, Tuesday’s bronze was her third medal in Doha this week. The 19-year-old also won gold in the mixed team event on Day 1 and bronze in the women’s individual 10m on Monday.

Toulson said Spendolini Sirieix’s performances lifted her as well. “I’m really happy to stand alongside her,” Toulson said. “It gives me confidence being next to such a good diver and such a good friend.”

“We really enjoyed ourselves,” Spendolini Sirieix said of Tuesday’s performance. “We didn't have the pressure. We gave it our all.  We know that this is a starting point; there’s only up from here.”

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Wednesday will feature two spectacular diving finals.

In women’s 3m synchro, 18 pairs will try to topple China’s formidable Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen who are heavily favored to win their third consecutive world title together. (Chang also won the event in 2017 with a different partner.) If Chang and Chen succeed, it would mark a 13-peat for China in the event, a streak that began in 2001.

The men’s 3m springboard final should be a pressure-filled contest between the 2017 and 2019 world champion Xie Siyi and his teammate, Tokyo Olympic champion Wang Zongyuan, who won the 3m gold in 2022 and 2023. Then again, maybe Mexico’s Osmar Olvera Ibarra will break China’s stronghold dating back to 2007 in this event. In 2023, Olvera Ibarra was the 3m silver medalist behind Wang, and he already won the men’s 1m springboard title on Day 2 in Doha.