Teenager pair Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin will seek the women's synchronized 10-meter platform gold in their Olympic debut on Tuesday, after their teammates have claimed two golds for the mighty China's diving squad.
Wang, 16, and Chen, 15, are hot favorites for Tuesday's match, as they have dominated the event since they were paired up in 2007. In 2007 and 2008, they reaped the gold medals in a series of international tournaments, including the World Series and Grand Prix of 2007 and 2008. They were also crowned in the event in the "Good Luck Beijing" World Cup in February.
Chen, gold medalist of the women's synchronized 10-meter platform in the 2007 Melbourne World Championships with partner Jia Tong, was also the silver medalist of the women's individual 10-meter platform, just after Wang Xin in that tournament, but she replaced Wang to claim the women's individual platform gold in the 2008 World Cup. The two girls will also vie for the individual platform title in the Games.
Chen, a Jiangsu native, started her diving career as early as four years old and was admitted to the national diving squad in 2003 at the age of 11. She was also the youngest in China's Olympic diving squad.
Wang, a Hubei native, celebrated her 16th birthday exactly on Monday on the eve of the women's synchronized platform final.
Australian Wu Melissa and Briony Cole, runners-up in the event in the Melbourne Worlds, will compete with the Chinese duo on Tuesday. It is the 16-year-old Wu's first Olympic journey.
The German pair Annett Gamm and Nora Subschinski, bronze medalists in both Athens Olympic Games and Melbourne Worlds, are also on the start list of Tuesday's competition.
China's mighty diving squad are trying their best to sweep all the eight diving gold medals on home soil, as "diving queen" Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia defended the women's 3-meter synchronized springboard champion on Sunday, while teenager Lin Yue and Huo Liang won the men's 10-meter synchronized platform on Monday.
China claimed five diving golds in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and six golds in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2008)