Men's 10m Platform Final
SAOUTINE Brilliant Under Pressure to Earn Platform Gold
With the pressure at its absolute greatest in diving's most prestigious event, Dmitri SAOUTINE of the Russian Federation was at his finest in the men's 10m platform diving final Friday night at the Centennial Olympic Games. A disappointing fifth-place finisher in Monday's 3m springboard event, SAOUTINE held off furious challenges from silver medalist Jan HEMPEL of Germany, bronze medalist XIAO Hailiang of the People's Republic of China and others to post a winning score of 692.34 and earn Russia's first ever Olympic gold medal in the event.
SAOUTINE held a slim lead throughout the final and received all 9s from the judges on his final dive, a back 1-1/2 somersault with 3-1/2 twists. The dive carried a 3.2 degree of difficulty and gave SAOUTINE the 90.24 points he needed to hold off the fast-finishing HEMPEL.
HEMPEL, who posted spectacular scores of 93.84 and 92.88 on his final two dives in what proved to be a futile chase, finished at 663.27 to earn his first Olympic medal in three attempts. XIAO's bronze assured a medal in each of the four events for the Chinese, who had previously captured the gold in the men's 3m springboard and both the women's springboard and platform at these Games.
Final Results: Gold - Dmitri SAOUTINE (RUS) 692.34; Silver - Jan HEMPEL (GER) 663.27; Bronze - XIAO Hailiang (CHN) 658.20.
"I knew I had to perform them just the way I did during training," said SAOUTINE of his last two pressure-packed dives.
SAOUTINE Still First Entering 10m Platform Finals
Dmitri SAOUTINE of the Russian Federation increased his first place lead to more than 20 points entering Friday's final round of the men's 10m platform diving competition at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. SAOUTINE, who entered today's semifinal competition with a 6.96 lead over XIAO Hailiang of the People's Republic of China, has piled up a two-round total of 647.46 points. XIAO has 625.41 points.
XIAO is trailed by teammate TIAN Liang, who stands in the third position with 611.49 points, followed by Vladimir TIMOSHININ of the Russian Federation who has 594.90 points, placing him fourth.
Germany's Jan HEMPEL entered the semifinals in seventh place and now ranks fifth with 591.39 points. He surpassed Patrick JEFFREY of the United States, now sixth, with 581.16 points. Teammate David PICHLER is in eighth with 570.12 points, trailing Mexico's Fernando PLATAS by .09.
The original field of 37 divers was narrowed down to 18 semifinalists for this morning's competition. Twelve competitors will compete for three medal positions in the finals at 22:00 tonight.
Top three: Dmitri SAOUTINE, 647.46; XIAO Hailiang, 625.41; TIAN Liang, 611.49.
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