China completes Olympic table tennis, diving clean sweep

In table tennis, the Chinese finished the competition by winning the women’s team title, marking the sixth time they have collected the full set.

The Chinese women withstood a brave Japanese challenge but eventually overpowered their opponents 3-0, their fifth gold from five competitions at the Games.

The first tie, a doubles match pitting China’s Chen Meng and Wang Manyu against Hina Hinata and Miwa Harimoto, went down to the wire, the Chinese edging it 12-10 in the deciding fifth game.

Individual silver medalist Sun Yingsha was also pushed hard by her Japanese opponent, Miu Hirano, but prevailed 3-0.

Then Wang finished off the job, beating Harimoto 3-1 to write another golden chapter in Chinese table tennis history.

Wang Chuqin and Sun started the Chinese gold rush in Paris, defeating the North Korean pair of Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong in the mixed doubles final.

Chen then beat compatriot Sun in the women’s singles final exactly one week ago.

Fan Zhendong overcame a brave challenge from the competition’s surprise package, Truls Moregard from Sweden, to win the men’s singles the next day.

The men’s team dominated Sweden 3-0, leaving just the Japanese women’s team standing in the way of the clean sweep.

The gold won by Chinese great Ma Long in the team event was his sixth.

That took him past divers Wu Minxia and Chen Ruolin, and gymnast Zou Kai, as the Chinese athlete with the most golds at the Olympics.

China have completely dominated table tennis ever since it was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1988 in Seoul.

They won every medal on offer at Sydney in 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Diving sweep

China also completed a historic clean sweep of all eight Olympic diving gold medals after Cao Yuan won the men’s 10m platform final in Paris on Saturday.

The diving powerhouse finally achieved the feat after going so close in the past two Games.

At both Tokyo and Rio they swept to seven of the eight finals, Britain preventing them from the full house on both occasions. At their home Games in Beijing 2008 they also let one escape, with Australia the party spoilers.

“I didn’t think too much about the eight medals but I’m happy to help China gain the final gold. It’s historic, congratulations to China,” said defending champion Cao who was a class above his rivals on Saturday.

He finished on 547.50 points, with Japan’s Rikuto Tamai on 507.65 to claim silver and Briton Noah Williams (497.35) the bronze medal.

Cao became the first to retain his Olympic 10m crown since American Greg Louganis in Seoul 1988.

After three of the six-dive final, Cao was being hard pressed by Japanese teenager Tamai.

But Tamai, only 17, flopped on his fifth and penultimate effort to clear Cao’s path to the top of the podium and a place in his country’s diving history.

The Beijing-born 29 year-old was securing his fourth Olympic gold in all after also winning the men’s 3m springboard at Rio 2016 and the men’s synchronized 10m platform title in London four years earlier.

It wasn’t all smiles though in the Chinese corner on the final day of the diving as world champion Yang Hao had a bad day at the office, trailing in last of the 12 finalists over 150 points behind his compatriot.

That was a rare reverse though for China and for those left in their wake at the 2024 Games there was nothing but awe at their rivals’ perfection in Paris.

“I’m always clapping their dives,” said Britain’s Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix after taking bronze to teenage duo of Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi in the women’s synchronized 10m platform.

“Just watch their dives — they go in the water like they are sleeping,” she marveled.

The Olympic diving program swelled to its current program of eight finals at the 2000 Sydney Games with the inclusion of the synchronized version for the springboard and platform events.