"We felt a little bit nervous because it was the first time we compete
together in the mixed event. We started to pair about one month ago. We
had our previous partners and never teamed up together. We did well
today but not perfect," Si said.
"These are my first world championships and my first mixed synchro event. Except heart beating, I felt nothing about the competition. The nerves were from my inner heart, so we suffer more from the pressure we put on ourselves than the one from the other rivals," Tai said.
China won the first ever mixed event in the history of the FINA World Championships - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepblumedia
As a substitute to Liu Huixia, who got injured on her right shoulder one month before the worlds, Si gained the chance to compete in the mixed synchro and women's 10m platform. Si revealed her goal is to retain her title on the platform. "I will try my best to defend the title, though it will be a hard battle since I am bigger and heavier than I was two years ago and there are many great divers from other countries," Si said.
In her eighth presence in FINA’s major showcase since 2001, Wu celebrated her eighth title (she has also five silver medals) with Shi Tingmao to retain the title in the women's 3m synchro springboard. China dominated the event for the eighth successive time at the world championships, a première in the history of the competition.
The reigning champion Wu/Shi finished in 351.30, beating Jennifer Abel/Pamela Ware of Canada in 319.47 while the Canadian pair moved a step forward than two years ago when they claimed bronze in Barcelona.
Samantha Mills and Ester Qin from Australia took the bronze. It was the third time Australian women won a medal in this event at the world championships following Sharleen Stratton/Bree Cole in 2007 and Stratton/Sharleen Smith in 2011.
Nadezhda Bazhina/Kristina Ilinyky of Russia missed the bronze when they made a big mistake in their last dive (5152B) with a poor 55.80-mark. The hosts placed third before the last combination but had to concede to the sixth place after that dive.
China also won the gold in the women's 3m springboard synchro - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
As the most successful female diver in history, Wu also collected six Olympic medals, including four golds, one silver and one bronze from 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
"We just tried to perform our normal training form, and did not think
about the other things. Keep concentration and cool head is very
important. We were competing against ourselves," said the 29-year-old
Wu. "Since I am getting older and slower in recovery, I have to train
efficiently and try to avoid more injuries. Synchro springboard is the
only event I compete in Kazan. It is always difficult to win the gold,"
Wu added.
"We are happy we can go to Rio Olympic Games for our country. To beat China? That is a goal of every diver in the world because they are so excellent. But before that, the first thing you should do is to do your best and be the best you can be," Jennifer said.
Qin Esther, a Chinese immigrant with her parents in Australia since 2007, said: "We made a lot of mistakes today but we were lucky to get the bronze."
QUOTES – Mixed 10m platform
Melissa Wu (AUS): “I’m really very happy with what we have done today. We had fun and we are very happy with our bronze medal”.
Domonic Bedggood (AUS): “This is our second chance competing together, so we are very happy with our bronze medal. We definitively believe that mixed synchro will be an event to remain in the programme for the future, so we are really excited with this result”.
Meaghan Benfeito (CAN): “We are very happy with our silver medal. We really are doing our best in this season.”
Vincent Riendeau (CAN): “We had a great start in the competition but had some individual troubles on the fourth dive. That hurt us in the standings so it was great to come back to a satisfying finish. Now we have something built on for the future. We have trouble in some dives, but this result motivates us to do better in the future.”
QUOTES – Women’s 3m Synchro Springboard
Esther Qin (AUS): “I think it was very nice. We had some mistakes and I think we were very lucky today. Miss dives, it can happen sometimes and we are satisfied with our result and with our medal.”
Jennifer Abel (CAN): “We are very happy with our performance today. Pamela and I did a good job to qualify the country for the Rio Olympic Games next year!”.
Pamela Ware (CAN): “The goal here was to get on the podium and get the Olympic spot for Canada. We did our first two compulsory dives better than ever and that really set the tone for the rest of the competition. Two years ago, it was our first season together so it is really great to see how we've improved.”