Quan Hongchan of China opens with perfect 10, then wins gold on the 10-meter platform
China's Quan Hongchan competes in the women's 10m platform diving final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Quan Hongchan of China not only won her second gold medal in diving at the Paris Olympics, she did it Tuesday with a perfect score of 10 on her first of five dives.
The dive was a forward 3 1/2 somersaults, hardly making a ripple and setting off wild cheers from Chinese fans as the seven judges all registered scores of 10.
“I believe scoring 10 is unbelievable,” Quan said through an interpreter. “The feeling was super.”
The 17-year-old, a three-time world champion, said she had scored 10 three times before — including twice while winning gold in Tokyo.
Chen Yuxi of China took silver, a repeat of their finish three years ago in Japan. Kim Mi Rae of North Korea won bronze, adding to the silver medal she claimed earlier in women’s 10-meter synchronized, which was the country’s first medal ever in Olympic diving.
Quan scored 425.60 points on five dives, compared with 420.70 for Chen and 372.10 for Kim. Caeli McKay of Canada was fourth with 364.50 points.
The two Chinese women teamed up earlier to win the 10-meter synchronized.
Kim began crying after her final dive, and it was unclear if she was celebrating or feeling disappointed.
“When I realized this was the bronze medal, when I realized I wasn’t able to do better I felt sad,” Kim said through an interpreter. “That’s why I teared up. The medal is going to be significant for North Korea. It’s going to be a very small corner of, a page in the history of North Korea.”
She added: “Although it’s a bronze, I am very happy to be able to bring back a medal to my country.”
China is aiming for an unprecedented sweep of the eight diving golds. The Chinese so far have won five golds after winning the four synchronized competitions in the opening week of the Games.
Quan and Chen had big leads over the field after the preliminary round on Monday, but those scores do not carry over to the final. It didn’t matter. They piled up the same margin there.
Quan was asked most of the questions, but Chen waited her turn to make a point — also through an interpreter.
“We fight for our country, we never fight for ourselves,” she said. “If she (Quan) wins gold or I do, it is only for China. As long as the gold is won by China, it doesn’t really matter.”
Neither American diver advanced to Tuesday’s 12-woman final. Delaney Schnell, the fifth-place finisher on 10-meter in 2021, was eliminated in the semifinals. Daryn Wright was knocked out in the prelims.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games