By Sportswriter Ma Xiangfei

    ATHENS, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Three-meter springboard diving champion Peng Bo said he was like a farmer who was eventually reaping what he had been working hard for.

    The 23-year-old Peng, denied the chance of clinching the synchronized title on Aug. 16 as his partner Wang Kenan failed the last dive to receive a rare score of 0.00, redeemed his loss with the victory in 787.38 points on Tuesday.

    Athens World Cup chamion Alexander Despatie from Canada and well-accomplished muti-Olympic and world champion Dmitri Sautin of Russia were beat to the second and third places respectively.

    "I have waited for this moment for so long and made so much efforts. I am like a farmer who is reaping the fruits of hard work," said the Chinese armyman after his successful Olympic debut.

    "Before I came here, I said to myself that maybe it would be the time I get rewarded for so many years of hard work," he said. "I always believe in my luck but I didn't quite expect my dream come true so easily."

    "At first the victory didn't really settle in, so I was unusually calm as if I only won at any small competition. But after a while, I came to be aware that it is a gold medal at the Olympics," said Peng, who finished second to Sautin at the 2001 World Championships and again settled for the silver behind Russian Alexandre Dobroskok at last year's worlds.

    "And I lauged. I laughed so hard and so long that my face became numb," said the out-spoken Peng.

    After Peng's win, Wang Kenan rushed to give Peng a big hug.

    Peng said he would always thank his best friend Wang for his heart-felt support.

    "I was so happy with the gold and my pal Wang said to me: at last we won," said Peng. "If not for his support, I would not havehad stood on the top of the podium. He is my closest friend."

    "We will forever regret what happened in the synchronized event,where we were odds-on competitors," Peng said. He and Wang headed into the last dive with a gap of 12 points with the closest rivals,Justin Dumais and Troy Dumais of the United States.

    "Wang works even harder than. So it was really a great pity forhim to miss the title," said Peng.

    Peng has jumped into the international limelight, but he said he would keep doing things step by step.

    "The Beijing Olympic Games? That is four years later and too far away," he said. "Chinese like to do things step by step and I am definitely one of them. What I need to do is to keep training hard and see what will happen." Enditem