Xie Siyi (L) and Wang Zongyuan of China pose with their gold medals after winning men's synchronized 3m springboard diving final at the Tokyo Olympics at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Tokyo, Japan, July 28, 2021. /CFP
Chinese divers Wang Zongyuan/Xie Siyi clinched the gold medal in the men's 3-meter springboard synchronized diving final at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
Wang/Xie's scored 467.82 points after six dives. The first two dives were fixed for every pair – back dive (201B) and reverse dive (301B) – and the Chinese duo led with 113.40 points leading into their third dive.
Wang/Xie chose inward 3½ somersaults (407C), forward 2½ somersaults 2 twists (5154B), backward 3½ somersaults (207C) and forward 4½ somersaults (109C) with difficulty degrees of 3.4, 3.4, 3.6 and 3.8, respectively, in the following four dives.
Xie Siyi/Wang Zongyuan of China compete in men's synchronized 3m springboard diving final at the Tokyo Olympics at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, July 28, 2021. /CFP
Things went smoothly with the third and fourth dives, with the Chinese pair scoring 86.70 points and 90.78 points, respectively. Their lead continued to grow to 26.14 points. However, Wang/Xie received a low score for their fifth dive, backward 3½ somersaults (207C). Andrew Capobianco/Michael Hixon of the U.S. beat them by 8.94 points by completing inward 3½ somersaults (407C).
Wang/Xie watched their lead cut to 13 points before the last round. They needed an excellent dive to secure victory despite the difficulty degree of 3.8. They completed their rotations in sync, earning 99.18 points and ensuring the gold medal would go to the Chinese duo.
Capobianco/Hixon won the silver medal with 444.36 points, followed by the 404.73 points of Germany's Patrick Hausding/Lars Rüdiger who won the bronze medal.