Quan doesn't make a splash, scoring perfect 10s to take gold

Quan Hongchan of China not only won her second gold medal in diving at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, she did it with a perfect score of 10 on her first of five dives.

The dive was a forward 3-and-a-half somersaults, hardly making a ripple and setting off wild cheers from the fans as the seven judges all registered scores of 10.

"I believe scoring 10 is unbelievable," Quan said through an interpreter. "The feeling was super."

The 17-year-old, a three-time world champion, said she had scored 10 three times before — including twice while winning gold in Tokyo.

China's Chen Yuxi took silver, a repeat of the duo's finish three years ago in Japan. Kim Mi-rae of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea won bronze, adding to the silver medal she claimed earlier in women's 10-meter synchronized, which was the country's first medal ever in Olympic diving.

Quan scored 425.60 points on five dives, compared with 420.70 for Chen and 372.10 for Kim. Caeli McKay of Canada was fourth with 364.50 points.

The two Chinese women teamed up earlier to win gold in the 10m synchronized.

Kim began crying after her final dive, and it was unclear if she was celebrating or feeling disappointed.

"When I realized this was the bronze medal, when I realized I wasn't able to do better, I felt sad," Kim said through an interpreter. "That's why I teared up. The medal is going to be significant for the nation. It's going to be a very small corner of a page in the history of the country."

She added: "Although it's a bronze, I am very happy to be able to bring a medal back home."

China is aiming for an unprecedented sweep of the eight diving golds. The Chinese so far have won five, after winning the four synchronized competitions in the opening week of the Games.

Quan, who stands at just 150 centimeters, was asked if she would return for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"The future should be thought about in the future," she said. "I should live in the present."

Quan and Chen had big leads over the field after the preliminary round on Monday, but those scores do not carry over to the final. It didn't matter. They piled up the same margin on Tuesday.

Quan was asked most of the questions, but Chen waited her turn to make a point — also through an interpreter.

"We fight for our country, we never fight for ourselves," she said. "If she (Quan) wins gold, or I do, it is only for China. As long as the gold is won by China, it doesn't really matter."

Chinese divers Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi topped the preliminary round of the men's 3m springboard on Tuesday. Wang scored 530.65 and Xie recorded 509.60.

Jack Laugher of Britain was third (468.30) and countryman Jordan Christopher Houlden was fourth (448.20).

The top 18 advanced to Wednesday's semifinals. The final is on Thursday.

Agencies via Xinhua