London 2012: Wu equals diving medals record with 3m triumph
China's Wu Minxia won the women's 3m springboard diving gold medal to draw level with Guo Jingjing as the most-decorated diver at the Olympics with six medals on Sunday.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: August 06, 2012 01:44 am IST
China's Wu Minxia won the women's 3m springboard diving gold medal to draw level with Guo Jingjing as the most-decorated diver at the Olympics with six medals on Sunday.
World champion Wu totalled 414.00 points from her five dives to beat teammate He Zi (379.20) and Mexico's Laura Sanchez (362.40).
Wu's victory was China's fifth gold medal from five events as they attempt an unprecedented sweep of all eight diving medals in London.
China won seven out of eight diving events at the Beijing Games four years ago, having won all 10 diving golds at last year's Shanghai world championships.
Wu reeled off an impeccable back 2.5 somersault on her last dive to clinch the gold medal with a score of 85.50.
She led after the opening round with 79.50 for a back 2.5 somersault from Italy's Tania Cragnotto and He.
He nailed 83.70 for a forward 3.5 somersault to take the lead from Wu (79.75) with Cragnotto dropping back to third.
But Wu retrieved the lead with a gem forward 3.5 somersault which netted her 85.25.
Another exquisite dive, a reverse 2.5 somersault, earned Wu 84.00 to give her a 13.50 points buffer over He going into the fifth and final round.
Wu, who won the synchronised 3m springboard with He last weekend, made sure of her first individual Olympic gold medal with her showstopper final dive to beat her teammate home by 34.80 points.
China begin their bid for a sixth diving gold at the London Games with the preliminaries of the men's 3m springboard on Monday.