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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese diving "dream team" showed their supremacy at the Rio Olympic Games as they pocketed seven out of the eight gold medals on offer, but their advantages, especially in the men's events, have been reduced.
More and more young foreign divers showed their talent and consistence at the tournament, especially in the men's 3m event. China lost the synchro 3m springboard gold to Britain's Jack Laugher and Chris Mears and only claimed a bronze.
It's Britain's first Olympic diving gold medal in history. They also won a silver and a bronze, standing second in the medal tally.
The United States, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada, Australia and Germany all took medals.
"Our foreign rivals are challenging us with high difficulty, so we need to increase our difficulty and at the same time keep consistent," said Zhou Jihong, team leader of the Chinese diving team.
Zhou was happy with the seven gold medals, saying it was not easy as the outdoor venue in Rio did bothered the divers.
China's 20-year-old Chen Aisen won the men's 10m platform title on Saturday to become the first male divers to win both the individual and synchro titles in a Olympic Games. It is also the title China had missed for two Olympic Games, as the last Chinese winner is Hu Jia at the 2004 Athens Games.
Veteran Wu Minxia won the synchro women's springboard with teammate Shi Tingmao, while Shi also clinched the individual springboard gold. The 30-year-old Wu now collected five Olympic gold medals, the same with Chen Ruolin, but the difference is Chen has perfect results at Olympic Games. She took part in five events in three Olympic Games, and won all the five titles. Chen only competed the synchro 10m platform this time and won the title with Liu Huixia.
The 15-year-old Ren Qian claimed the women's 10m platform gold, while Cao Yuan won the men's 3m springboard.
