Participating in the Olympic Games for the first time, Yang Hao and Lian Junjie teamed up to win the gold medal in the men's double 10-meter platform, which not only "avenged" the Tokyo Olympics, but also brought the Chinese diving "dream team" one step closer to the dream of winning all the gold medals in a single Olympic Games!
There is only 1 gold difference in the 5th edition
For the "dream team", the men's 10m springboard is a small "short board". In the previous 10 Olympic Games, the Chinese team only won 5 gold medals in the men's single 10-meter platform event, while in the men's double 10-meter platform event, the Chinese team won gold 4 times in 6 sessions.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the only gold medal lost by the dream team was the men's doubles 10m platform, Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen won the silver medal, while Thomas Daley and Matthew Lee won the gold medal.
At Rio 2016, the Dream Team also won 7 of the 8 gold medals, and the only event they missed was the men's double 3m springboard, when Cao Yuan and Qin Kai won the silver medal, while the United Kingdom pair of Lovel and Mills won the gold medal.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the only event that the Dream Team failed to win gold was the men's single 10-meter platform, when Zhou Luxin made a serious mistake in the last jump and was finally overtaken by Meacham. In addition, in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, the dream team also missed one gold medal and failed to realize the dream of winning all the gold medals.
Three consecutive World Championships
In the Paris Olympic cycle, the Dream Team performed well. At the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, the Dream Team achieved the feat of winning all 13 gold medals, which is the second time that the "Dream Team" has achieved all the gold medals at the World Championships after the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.
At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, the "Dream Team" won 12 gold medals, and the only event that missed was the men's single 10-meter platform, Lian Junjie and Yang Hao won the silver and bronze medals respectively, and Australia's Russo won the gold medal.
At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, the "Dream Team" won 9 gold medals in 10 events, and the only gold medal was the men's 1-meter springboard, Yang Hao and Lian Junjie won the gold medal and silver medal in the men's single 10-meter platform respectively, and the two won the gold medal in the men's double 10-meter platform.
Despite competing in the Olympics for the first time, Yang Hao and Lian Junjie have already completed three consecutive World Championships in this event. However, at the Diving World Cup Finals in April, the two made a mistake on the last jump and almost gave away the gold medal in hand.
Winning 8 gold is not a dream
In the finals, Yang Hao and Lian Junjie were in the leading position from the first action. In the 4th jump, the Chinese team scored 95.88 points, and in the 5th jump, they scored 91.80 points, opening up the gap with their opponents!
In the last jump, the two had a perfect performance, scored 103.23 points, and finally won the gold medal with a huge advantage! This is the second gold medal won by the Chinese diving team in this Olympic Games and the 49th gold medal won in previous Olympic Games, thus surpassing the United States team and becoming the diving team with the most Olympic gold medals.
After making up for the regret of three years ago, the Dream Team is one step closer to their dream of winning all the gold medals in a single Olympic Games. The next challenge will be the men's single 10m platform, which will be contested by Cao Yuan and Yang Hao, who managed to reach the top of the World Championships in Doha after only winning silver medals at two consecutive World Championships.
Cao Yuan, a veteran of the Four Dynasties, already has three gold medals in the single 10-meter platform, the double 10-meter platform and the single 3-meter springboard, and in February 2023, Cao Yuan underwent shoulder surgery and the recovery time was as long as 8 months. At the World Championships in Doha in February, Cao Yuan won the silver medal in the single 10m platform, and then held a closed training camp until early August, when he arrived in Paris. Cao Yuan and Yang Hao's performance in this project may determine whether the dream team can achieve the ultimate dream!