China pair gold again(Diving Gold Medal)

Updated: 2008-08-10 16:47:16

(L-R) Julia Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova, Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia and Ditte Kotzian and Heike Fischer (Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

(L-R) Julia Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova, Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia and Ditte Kotzian and Heike Fischer (Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

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(BEIJING, August 10) -- China's "Golden Pair" Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia claimed their second consecutive Olympic gold in Synchronized Women's 3m Springboard with a score of 343.50 on Sunday, August 10, at National Aquatics Center. Russians Julia Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova finished second, while Ditte Kotzian and Heike Fischer of Germany finished third.

China was tied for first with Russia and the United States after the first dive, with a score of 52.80, then pulled ahead with three 10s on their second dive and never looked back. Their lead over Russia after an 81.90-point fourth dive was 17.37, making gold all but certain, and a score of 75.60 on the final dive sealed the deal.

Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia pose with their gold medals. (Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

The Russian duo were locked into second place after their second dive, clinching silver with consistent scores on their third, fourth and fifth dives. Julia Pakhalina is a three-time Olympian and was the gold medalist in Sydney.

The battle for bronze was fierce, with Germany and the United States tied for third after the fourth dives. Germany earned the best fifth-dive score in the field, scoring a 76.50 that edged the US divers by 4.5 points and pushed the Germans onto the podium.

Individual Women's 3m Springboard begins on August 15 and concludes August 17.

Final standings of Synchronized Women's 3m Springboard

1. China -- Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia, 343.50 points

2. Russia -- Julia Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova, 323.61

3. Germany -- Ditte Kotzian and Heike Fischer, 318.90

4. United States -- Kelci Bryant and Ariel Rittenhouse, 314.40

5. Australia -- Briony Cole and Sharleen Stratton, 311.34

6. Italy -- Noemi Batki and Francesca Dallape, 296.70

7. Ukraine -- Mariya Voloshchenko and Anna Pysmenska, 293.10

8. Great Britain -- Tandi Gerrard and Harley Sage, 278.25

Overall Medal Standings of 2008 Beijing Olympics

update 2008-08-09

Rank	NOC Name	Men				Women				Open/Mixed				Total				Rank by Total
		G	S	B	T	G	S	B	T	G	S	B	T	G	S	B	T
1	CHN - China	1			1	1			1					2			2	=2
2	USA - United States					1	1	1	3					1	1	1	3	1
3	KOR - Korea	1	1		2									1	1		2	=2
4	CZE - Czech Republic					1			1					1			1	=4
4	ESP - Spain	1			1									1			1	=4
4	ROU - Romania					1			1					1			1	=4
7	AUT - Austria		1		1										1		1	=4
7	CUB - Cuba						1		1						1		1	=4
7	ITA - Italy		1		1										1		1	=4
7	RUS - Russian Fed.						1		1						1		1	=4
7	TUR - Turkey						1		1						1		1	=4
12	ARG - Argentina							1	1							1	1	=4
12	CRO - Croatia							1	1							1	1	=4
12	JPN - Japan							1	1							1	1	=4
12	NED - Netherlands			1	1											1	1	=4
12	PRK - DPR Korea			1	1											1	1	=4
12	SUI - Switzerland			1	1											1	1	=4
12	TPE - Chinese Taipei							1	1							1	1	=4
12	UZB - Uzbekistan			1	1											1	1	=4
Total:		3	3	4	10	4	4	5	13					7	7	9	23

Today's Medallists

As of Aug 9 2008

Discipline	Event	Medal	Name	NOC
Cycling - Road	Men's Road Race		SANCHEZ Samuel	Spain
			REBELLIN Davide	Italy
			CANCELLARA Fabian	Switzerland
Fencing	Women's Individual Sabre		ZAGUNIS Mariel	United States
			JACOBSON Sada	United States
			WARD Becca	United States
Judo	Men -60 kg		CHOI Minho	Korea
			PAISCHER Ludwig	Austria
			HOUKES Ruben	Netherlands
			SOBIROV Rishod	Uzbekistan
	Women -48 kg		DUMITRU Alina Alexandra	Romania
			BERMOY Yanet	Cuba
			PARETO Paula Belen	Argentina
			TANI Ryoko	Japan
Shooting	Men's 10m Air Pistol		PANG Wei	China
			JIN Jong Oh	Korea
			KIM Jong Su	DPR Korea
	Women's 10m Air Rifle		EMMONS Katerina	Czech Republic
			GALKINA Lioubov	Russian Fed.
			PEJCIC Snjezana	Croatia
Weightlifting	Women's 48kg		CHEN Xiexia	China
			OZKAN Sibel	Turkey
			CHEN Wei-Ling	Chinese Taipei