By Kane Wu
PARIS (Reuters) -China's Wang Zongyuan and Long Daoyi retained China's men's synchronised 3-metre springboard title at the Paris Olympics on Friday, claiming the country's fourth gold in the sport and keeping alive their goal of taking all eight on offer.
Mexico's Juan Celaya and Osmar Olvera took silver and Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher from Britain won the bronze.
The Chinese pair recovered from two problematic dives to firm up the lead with near perfection in the last routine. They had the highest score of 95.76 points in the last dive to finish on 446.10 points.
"We've never had such a passionate, thrilling and difficult competition before. This is our first time facing such a challenge," Wang told reporters.
"We made some mistakes but I was telling him (Long)to find himself and just perform at his normal levels, telling him there is nothing to be afraid of."
The Mexicans, along with the British, performed the most difficult dive in Friday’s competition - a forward 2-1/2 somersaults in pike position with three twists.
Celaya and Olvera, who neatly executed their dives, took the lead in the fourth round but fell short in their bid to upset the Chinese, losing by a mere 2.07 points. The silver is Mexico's first medal in an Olympic men's synchronised diving event since London 2012.
"We have one dream, one aim," Olvera said. "We nearly achieved that. We were very close to the Chinese. Of course they are not unbeatable so we are very, very happy with our results."
The 22-year-old Wang won gold in the 3-metre synchronised event in Tokyo three years ago with partner Xie Siyi. He has also dominated individual 3-metre springboard events since 2022.
Long, a year younger, has won the world titles in the synchronized event since teaming up with Wang in early 2023 but messed up the entry with two of his dives in his Olympic debut.
"In the first two dives I was a bit scared, a bit tight so I made mistakes," Long said. "In the last two dives I was also a bit nervous."
Wang and Mexico's Olvera are set to compete again in the men's individual 3-metre springboard event.
Olvera became the first diver from a country other than China to claim the world title in the 1m springboard event in nearly 20 years by winning gold in Doha in February.
He will seek to deny Wang top spot after coming second to the Chinese diver in four world series events this year.
Britain's Laugher won gold in the 3-metre event at the Rio Games in 2016, while Harding made his Olympic debut on Friday.
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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