Gold medalist Cao Yuan of China attends the awarding ceremony after the men's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
PARIS, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Cao Yuan successfully defended his Olympic title in the men's 10m platform event on Saturday as China completed a clean sweep of all eight diving gold medals at the Paris Olympics.
Cao, 29, secured his fourth Olympic gold with an impressive 547.5 points, becoming the first diver since American legend Greg Louganis at the 1988 Seoul Olympics to defend gold in the men's 10m platform.
"I am really excited," Cao said after the achievement. "I made great efforts to recover, to think and to be in a good shape in Paris."
Japanese teenager Rikuto Tamai failed to nail his fifth dive but still managed to claim the silver medal with a score of 507.65 after receiving the highest score of 99 points in the final from a sensational last dive.
Britain's Noah Williams took the bronze with 497.35 points while the reigning world champion Yang Hao of China, far from his best, finished last among the 12 divers in the final.
"I was just focusing on my own dives during the competition. Other athletes could not affect me. I won this event at the Tokyo Olympics, so I am confident that I have the ability to win it again," Cao noted.
As a four-time Olympian, Cao said he didn't think about the 2028 Games, but the 17-year-old Tamai has set his target on the Olympic gold at the next Games.
"My goal is to reach the gold medal, because I believe I am in that position," Tamai said after becoming Japan's first-ever Olympic medalist in diving.
Williams, who grabbed silver from the synchronized event, said he could expect a lot of pressure for China's diving team to finally win all eight diving gold medals at a single Olympics.
"I think they just train harder and better than anyone else. The facilities they have are amazing. When we go to China for competitions, like the pools, they have incredible facilities, the training environment as well," said Williams.
"For me, I get to train obviously with Tom Daley, and when I train with him, that pushes me to be better. But for them, they have multiple world champions, multiple Olympic champions. For as far as I can see in the future, they will be winning golds," he added. ■
Cao Yuan of China competes during the men's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
Cao Yuan of China competes during the men's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
Cao Yuan of China competes during the men's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
Cao Yuan of China competes during the men's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Gold medalist Cao Yuan (C) of China, silver medalist Tamai Rikuto (L) of Japan and bronze medalist Noah Williams of Great Britain attend the awarding ceremony after the men's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
Cao Yuan (C) of China is congratulated after the men's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
