On the evening of August 8, Beijing time, the men's 3-meter board final of the Paris Olympics was stolen by the veteran Xie Sicheng, and his teammate Wang Zongyuan won the silver medal with 530.20 points, regretting that he failed to become a double gold king. Wang Zongyuan still won one gold and one silver medal in Paris, exactly the same as at the last Tokyo Olympics, and failed to achieve his goal of a men's springboard grand slam in international competitions. However, Wang Zongyuan is not yet 23 years old, and I believe that in four years, he will still be able to stand on the stage of the Los Angeles Olympics.
From the preliminaries to the semi-finals and then to the final, Wang Zongyuan scored first, and it looks like he will win his first Olympic gold medal in the singles event without any suspense. With his current level of skill, basically no one can shake his position. But the beauty of sports is that you can't predict the outcome until the end. After leading by four jumps, Wang Zongyuan made an obvious mistake in the water in the 5th jump of 307C (three and a half weeks backward somersault and hugged his knees), and the score fell behind his teammate Xie Sicheng at once, and the gap was as much as 15 points. In the last jump, Wang Zongyuan calmed down and scored a game-high 102.60 points in the 109C (forward somersault for 4 and a half knees) action with a difficulty coefficient of 3.8, but unfortunately he could not make up for the mistake of the last jump, and won the silver medal in this event for two consecutive Olympic Games.
At the time of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, the 19-year-old was a newcomer who had only competed in one World Championships, and at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, he competed in the men's 1m springboard in non-Olympic events. However, it is such a young man who lacks experience in competitions, and when he first appeared on the big stage of the Olympic Games, he cooperated with Xie Sicheng to win the gold medal in the double 3-meter springboard and the silver medal in the single event. It is amazing, but it is not accidental, produced by the talented Chinese diving "dream team", nothing is unimaginable. He also broke an age record for the Chinese diving team, becoming the youngest men's springboard Olympic champion in the history of the "Dream Team".
To a certain extent, Wang Zongyuan was able to represent the Chinese diving team in Tokyo, and suddenly took on the burden of the men's 3-meter springboard single and double events, and there are some lucky elements in it. Due to the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed for one year, which is a huge test for many athletes, especially veterans, but it is a great opportunity for newcomers, even an opportunity to change their fate and rewrite their career resume, Wang Zongyuan undoubtedly belongs to the latter.
Wang Zongyuan once said about the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics: "Actually, this is a good thing for me, as a new player, an extra year can allow me to improve and prepare better. I hope to be able to give my best at the Olympics, to leave no regrets and to give myself the best answer. As a result, Wang Zongyuan lived up to expectations, and he and Xie Sicheng formed a double insurance for the Chinese men's springboard event, winning two gold medals for the "Dream Team".
has the strength and ability to seize the opportunity, and has achieved Wang Zongyuan's first men's springboard in the Paris Olympic cycle. Wang Zongyuan's slender limbs, good body proportions, strong coordination, and excellent ability to take off and stay in the air are very suitable for the springboard project he is mainly targeting. So in the more than two years since Xie Sicheng left the national team, Wang Zongyuan gradually dominated the men's springboard field through his acquired efforts and talents, and remained undefeated in the Paris Olympic cycle until this Olympic final.
You must know that in the past in the eight Olympic events of the Chinese diving team, the men's springboard was second only to the men's platform, and it was a slightly weaker event in terms of "gold stability", not as good as the women's board and platform events, but it was precisely because of Wang Zongyuan that the men's springboard has also become an iron plate for the Chinese diving team.
After the end of the 2021 Shaanxi National Games, Wang Zongyuan started an undefeated mode, and before the start of the men's 3-meter springboard final of the Paris Olympics, Wang Zongyuan achieved an incredible 15 consecutive victories in the international arena, including the three consecutive championships of the World Championships single and double springboard competitions, the champion of the Asian Games, the champion of all World Cup sub-competitions and finals, and even made a cameo appearance with the female team members in the men's and women's mixed 3-meter springboard and mixed team competitions of the two World Cup sub-stations. These titles do not include the national championships and national championships that he competed in the country. There is a saying that in diving and table tennis, it is easy for Chinese players to win international championships, but it is difficult to win championships in domestic competitions, but there is no such difference here in Wang Zongyuan.
But fate made people, and when he was about to win his first Olympic gold medal in singles, Wang Zongyuan had psychological fluctuations, because he didn't pick a good move, and he missed the gold medal he was longing for. It seems that he will continue to learn from Xie Sicheng, and he must truly be in the center of the competition without distractions. But after all, Wang Zongyuan is not yet 23 years old, and he can also do what Xie Sicheng can do.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin