China’s Qin Kai and He Chong won the men’s three-metre synchronised springboard and He Zi snatched a narrow victory in the one-metre springboard as the country took its tally to five golds at the world championships on Tuesday.
Qin and He Chong led throughout at Barcelona’s spectacular hilltop Montjuic pool, with Russian pair Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov taking silver and Jahir Ocampo and Rommel Pacheco of Mexico bronze.
He Zi, by contrast, was trailing Italy’s Tania Cagnotto going into the last of her five dives but conjured the best effort of the day, a reverse 1-1/2 somersaults and 1-1/2 twists, to win by one tenth of a point, the smallest victory margin at a world championships.
He Zi finished on 307.10, with Cagnotto on 307.00 and He’s compatriot Wang Han winning bronze with 297.75.
“Before the last dive I was really nervous because the scores were very close,” He Zi told reporters.
“I managed to stay focused and I got the gold,” she said. When told her victory margin was the narrowest ever, she added: “I couldn’t imagine. Knowing that gives more value to my gold medal.”
It was a fresh cruelty for European champion Cagnotto, who was denied a medal at the London Olympics last year when she finished two tenths of a point behind third-placed Laura Sanchez of Mexico in the three-metre springboard.