China wins gold in men's diving 3m synchronized springboard event
Americans take silver, German duo picks up bronze
China led all the way in winning the men's three-metre synchronized springboard on Wednesday in Japan, giving the diving powerhouse its third gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics.
Zongyuan Wang and Siyi Xie finished with 467.82 points in their Olympic debuts.
Andrew Capobianco and Michael Hixon of the United States earned silver with 444.36 points. It's the same medal that Hixon won five years ago in Rio de Janeiro with a different partner.
China earlier won gold in women's 10m synchro and women's 3m synchro, and took silver in men's 10-metre synchro.
The Chinese and the Americans did the same dive in the last round. The forward 4-1/2 somersaults tuck carries a 3.8 degree of difficulty, the second-toughest dive performed by any of the teams. Wang and Xie earned 99.18 points, while Capobianco and Hixon received 88.92.
The Chinese duo built an early lead after earning a perfect mark of 10 for synchronization on their first dive and two 10s for synchronization on their second dive.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nikita Shleikher of the ROC were in medal contention when they failed on their last dive. Shleikher appeared to lose his way as he took off and hit the water on his stomach. As a result, they received zero points and finished last among eight teams.
