Diving practice disrupted by outage

Tian Liang and his diving teammates have made their first practice appearance in six weeks. But as soon as they returned to the public eye, they were hit by something that has been a common occurrence in Athens: a power failure.

On Monday, the highly-talented Chinese team had their training cut short by a power outage that affected the diving pool. Power was eventually restored and they resumed training under the watchful eyes of journalists, who had previously been barred from attending the team's closed-door training in Dalian, where they had put their finishing touches for Athens.

Sydney platform gold medallist Tian said the power failure was a 'strange' experience for him, but one he said he might have to get used to in a city that has been struck by a series of power outages.

Last month, Athens was hit by the worst blackout in more than a decade, leaving millions sweltering in a heat wave and raising concerns about whether the lights will go out at the Games, which start on Friday.

Tian and female diver, Guo Jingjing, are expected to win gold in their events as China attempt to improve on their five gold medals in Sydney.

Tian had few other complaints and generally gave the thumbs up to organisers, saying he was pleased with the city's preparations. 'Apart from the electricity hiccup, things here are quite satisfying. The diving pool is in quiet surroundings and the athletes' village is quite good,' said the 22-year-old, who is favourite to win the men's platform event.