Flair and lovely, China set for diving sweep

Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin, who won the women’s 10m platform on Tuesday, are 4 feet, six inches tall. The two divers have the same pixie haircut. They were born within four months of each other in 1992. And they provided mirror reflections of each other to lay claim to the gold in synchronised 10m platform. Of course, in every non-individual competition, athletes depend on each other. Ask Phelps. On Monday, his pursuit of eight golds was kept alive by Jason Lezak. In the 4x100m relay, Lezak came from behind in the anchor leg to get the US team the gold medal.

But in synchronised diving, the two divers become one. Synchronised diving was included in the Olympics in 2000, reportedly to maximise the audiences diving brings. One can see why. Seen in slow-motion replay, the Chinese dives give the impression of double vision as the diving pairs somersault and twist and silently enter the water.

Synchronised divers have a way of speaking as one, completing each other’s sentences and thoughts. So the German women on Tuesday: it’s important to be friends. The British girls, as they prepared for the individual competition that follows the synchronised categories: I am going to miss her (the team mate). The individual event is more controllable. But it’s lonely. Here, I have to depend on her and she has to depend on me. The Canadians: only one of us calls the count as we take off. And Wang, who celebrated a birthday on Monday, giggled that she received clothes and necklaces. Then she added, and my team mate gave me friendship.

The German men today: it’s important to be friends. The Canadians, disappointed at two mistakes: “I wouldn’t say that between the two of us (there was bad body language), we are a team, you can’t be mad at one another, we lose together, we win together, we are both disappointed but we will get over it.”

But the most moving, from Wang Feng, when asked how they would celebrate: “We will not celebrate it. In a few days, Qin Kai will compete in the individual event. Since we live in the same apartment, my schedule should follow his to ensure him a good performance.”