The last event of the Diving competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Men's 10m Platform, gets underway on Friday, August 22, with German diver Sascha Klein standing in the way of China's clean sweep of all eight Diving gold medals in Beijing.
Klein is the World No.1 in this event. He won a surprise gold at the 16th FINA World Cup at the Water Cube earlier this year by fending off strong Chinese divers and also clinched a title in this event on the Grand Prix circuit in Germany this year.
China's divers, Zhou Luxin and Huo Liang, are out to stage a one-two finish for China. The World No. 2 in this event, Zhou settled for second at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, as well as the World Cup in Beijing this year.
Huo has recently been a specialist in the Men's 10m Synchronized Platform with a teammate Lin Yue. The two won gold in the event last week.
World champion Gleb Galperin of Russia had been sidelined since 2007 summer due to spinal injury, but recovered to claim a stunning victory in this event at the Grand Prix in Russia last April. He could be in contention for the podium.
World No.3 Mathew Mitcham of Autsralia is in a good shape this season after coming back from a year break. He has stood on the medal podium three times on the Grand Prix circuit this year winning gold in the United States, silver in Germany and bronze in Beijing.
(BOCOG, August 22, 2008)