Chinese prodigy Ren Qian, 15, wins 10m platform diving gold
Ren Qian and Si Yajie finished first and second for China's sixth diving gold medal
Ren Qian of China competes during the Women's 10m Platform , final diving at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre (Photo: Getty Image/ Al Bello)
China has its next diving superstar. Fifteen-year-old Ren Qian captured another diving gold medal for China on Thursday, producing five nearly flawless efforts off the women's 10-meter platform to beat her 17-year-old teammate, Si Yajie.
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With the win, Ren became the youngest medal winner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. "I feel quite good about it. I'm young, but I got the medal. I think from now on I'll train harder, I'll work harder so I can focus on my future," Ren said.
Ren finished with 439.25 points, while Si settled for silver at 419.40 in a back-and-forth duel that wiped out any would-be contenders.
"To be honest, I think my team-mate (the gold medallist) Ren Qian is a better diver so I think that she really deserved the gold," Si said.
Early on, a pair of Canadians, Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, along with American Jessica Parratto managed to stay close to the mighty Chinese teenagers.
By the end, Benfeito was the only one anywhere close, grabbing the bronze at 389.20. Only one Canadian diver has won more, Emily Heymans who has four.
Filion dropped to sixth and Parratto botched two straight dives, plummeting all the way to 10th.
As for the Chinese, they never wavered. Seamlessly filling the void left by two-time Olympic champion Chen Ruolin, Ren and Si took turns seeing who could out-do the other. Their spins were quicker than anyone else's. Their twists and turns were graceful and elegant, yet showed stunning athleticism. And when they sliced through the water, they barely left a ripple.
Ren never received a mark lower than 8.5, and her final two dives produced three perfect 10s. Hardly looking her age, she was simply unflappable in her first appearance on the Olympic stage.
Si led the way in both the preliminaries and the semifinals, but she finally wobbled a bit in the fourth round. She was slightly off on her toughest dive — a back 3½ somersaults with a tuck — and wound up with scores ranging from 7.0 to 8.0.
That was all Ren needed to clinch the gold, the sixth in seven diving events for the Chinese at these games. If they can win the final event, the men's platform, it would match their best Olympic performance ever. They also won seven of eight events at Beijing in 2008.
