The team of China has dominated the 2014 edition of the FINA World Junior Diving Championships, organised from September 9-14 in Penza (RUS), by getting 14 medals (including seven titles out of the 14 events at stake). Individually, Wu Chunting was the most successful diver in Russia, earning three gold medals: Girls A 1m and 3m springboard, and the 3m synchro (together with Song Anxin). The remaining victories for the Chinese delegation came in the Boys A platform (Tai Xiaohu) and 3m springboard (Huang Bowen), Boys B 3m springboard (Zhu Han), and Girls B platform (Song Anxin).
Other nations with victories in Penza included Australia, Mexico, Denmark, USA, Colombia and Japan. Besides China, the Australian divers were the only ones with more than one triumph in the event, with Lara Tarvit winning the Girls A platform and Georgia Sheehan being the best in the Girls B 3m springboard.
The home team of Russia also perform well, getting eight podium presences (seven silver and one bronze medal). Great Britain and Germany completed the list of National Federations with awarded divers in Penza.
The 20th edition of the FINA World Junior Diving Championships, a competition that is staged every two years, was open to athletes aged 16-18 (Group A) and 14-15 years old (Group B).
Medallists in Penza
Boys A, 1m springboard: 1. Alejandro Arias Munoz (COL), 531.20; 2. Diego Rodrigo (MEX), 511.25; 3. Huang Bowen (CHN), 510.30
Boys A, 3m springboard: 1. Huang Bowen (CHN), 636.60; 2. Aleksandr Belevtsev (RUS), 565.60; 3. Diego Rodrigo (MEX), 562.65
Boys А, 5-7.5-10 platform: 1. Tai Xiaohu (CHN), 565.55; 2. Li Ping’an (CHN), 538.50; 3. Kyle Kothari (GBR), 536.00
Boys B, 1m springboard: 1. Andreas Sargent Larsen (DEN), 430.50; 2. Nikita Nikolayev (RUS), 421.75; 3. Ross Todd (AUS), 392.90
Boys B, 3m springboard: 1. Zhu Han (CHN), 466.15; 2. Andreas Sargent Larsen (DEN), 462.60; 3. Li Zheng (CHN), 446.25
Boys B, 5-7.5-10m platform: 1. Reo Nishida (JPN), 451.10; 2. Maksim Lebedev (RUS), 448.65; 3. Zhu Han (CHN), 447.10
Boys A+B, 3m synchro springboard: 1. Diego Rodrigo/Ornelas Adan Zuniga (MEX), 329.61; 2. Nikita Nikolaev/Ilya Molchanov (RUS), 307.80; 3. Sam Thornton/James Philip Hilty (GBR), 305.88
Girls A, 1m springboard: 1. Wu Chunting (CHN), 421.30; 2. Maria Polyakova (RUS), 415.25; 3. Maddison Keeney (AUS), 415.00
Girls А, 3m springboard: 1. Wu Chunting (CHN), 488.20; 2. Maria Polyakova (RUS), 457.20; 3. Dolores Hernandez (MEX), 450.35
Girls А, 5-7.5-10m platform: 1. Lara Tarvit (AUS), 438.05; 2. Alejandra Orozco (MEX), 434.55; 3. Lian Jie (CHN), 425.50
Girls B, 1m springboard: 1. Brooke Christine Schultz (USA), 356.90; 2. Ekaterina Nekrasova (RUS), 353.95; 3. Georgia Sheehan (АUS), 344.65
Girls B, 3m springboard: 1. Georgia Sheehan (AUS), 407.65; 2. Song Anxin (CHN), 404.30; 3. Christina Wassen (GER), 400.40
Girls B, 5-7.5-10m platform: 1. Song Anxin (CHN), 394.10; 2. Lois Mae Toulson (GBR), 352.90; 3. Li Jinming (CHN), 351.05
Girls A+B, 3m synchro springboard: 1. Song Anxin/Wu Chunting (CHN), 281.70; 2. Naomi Gowlett/Georgia Sheehan (AUS), 280.68; 3. Elena Chernykh/ Maria Polyakova (RUS), 267.00
Medal table
1. China 7 2 5 14
2. Australia 2 1 3 6
3. Mexico 1 2 2 5
4. Denmark 1 1 – 2
5. USA 1 – – 1
6. Colombia 1 – – 1
7. Japan 1 – – 1
8. Russia – 7 1 8
9. Great Britain – 1 2 3
10. Germany – – 1 1
Congrat’s to Miss Schultz for her gold medal in representing the US, but in general it doesn’t look like things are turning around too well for USA Diving. 🙁