Laugher and Mears dent Chinese hopes of diving sweep

AFP, RIO DE JANEIRO: Britain’s Jack Laugher and Chris Mears won an upset victory on the Olympic men’s 3m synchronised springboard Wednesday to snuff China’s quest for a golden sweep in Rio’s strangely green diving pool.
The American duo of Sam Dorman and Mike Hixon took silver, while China’s Cao Yuan and Qin Kai ended up with bronze.
Cao and Qin, the reigning world champions, led through the first two rounds and China’s diving powerhouse appeared poised to go four-for-four, halfway to a historic eight-medal sweep.
But a sub-par Chinese dive in the third round allowed Laugher and Mears to move into the lead.
The Americans made a late charge, nailing a difficult front 4 ½ somersault with tuck on their sixth and final dive.
It scored a 98.04, the highest-scored dive in the contest, and relegated the Chinese to third. 
But the Britons finished strong themselves to end with 454.32 points, eking out a close 4.11-point victory over the USA. The athletes competed for a second day in a pool that has turned an algae-like green colour, prompting concerns for the health of the divers. 
Olympic officials have blamed an imbalance of chemicals in the outdoor venue, which also affected an adjacent pool used for water polo and synchronised swimming.
But they have insisted that water tests carried out since Tuesday have indicated there is no health threat, and the water was slightly less green on Wednesday compared to the day before.
Meanwhile, Olympic divers and water polo players will compete for the foreseeable future in unhealthy-looking green water, according to red-faced officials who on Wednesday blamed a chemical shortfall for the latest Rio Games gaffe.
Rio 2016 officials reaffirmed that tests showed there was “absolutely no risk” to swimmers from the murky green pools and blamed the unanticipated impact of increased pool use for a “sudden change in alkalinity.” 

 

Laugher and Mears dent Chinese hopes of diving sweep

AFP, RIO DE JANEIRO: Britains Jack Laugher and Chris Mears won an upset victory on the Olympic mens 3m synchronised springboard Wednesday to snuff Chinas quest for a golden sweep in Rios strangely green diving pool. The American duo of Sam Dorman and Mike Hixon took silver, while Chinas Cao Yuan and Qin Kai ended up with bronze. Cao and Qin, the reigning world champions, led through the first two rounds and Chinas diving powerhouse appeared poised to go four-for-four, halfway to a historic eight-medal sweep. But a sub-par Chinese dive in the third round allowed Laugher and Mears to move into the lead. The Americans made a late charge, nailing a difficult front 4 somersault with tuck on their sixth and final dive. It scored a 98.04, the highest-scored dive in the contest, and relegated the Chinese to third. But the Britons finished strong themselves to end with 454.32 points, eking out a close 4.11-point victory over the USA. The athletes competed for a second day in a pool that has turned an algae-like green colour, prompting concerns for the health of the divers. Olympic officials have blamed an imbalance of chemicals in the outdoor venue, which also affected an adjacent pool used for water polo and synchronised swimming. But they have insisted that water tests carried out since Tuesday have indicated there is no health threat, and the water was slightly less green on Wednesday compared to the day before. Meanwhile, Olympic divers and water polo players will compete for the foreseeable future in unhealthy-looking green water, according to red-faced officials who on Wednesday blamed a chemical shortfall for the latest Rio Games gaffe. Rio 2016 officials reaffirmed that tests showed there was absolutely no risk to swimmers from the murky green pools and blamed the unanticipated impact of increased pool use for a sudden change in alkalinity.