World Championships: Chen Yuxi Wins 9th Gold with Platform Title
Chen Yuxi is just 19 years old, but she won her ninth career World Championships gold medal on Thursday by triumphing in the women’s platform event.
Chen scored 430.50 points in the five-dive final. She blew away the field, with Germany’s Pauline Pfeif second with 367.10 points and China’s Xie Pieling getting bronze in 358.20.
The two Americans in the final, Bayleigh Cranford and Ella Roselli, finished eighth and 11th respectively.
“When I saw the score, I was in disbelief,” Chen said. “It’s not easy to score 430. Before the competition, I didn’t expect to be able to get this score.”
Through 10 events, China has eight gold medals and 12 total. Five of six individual divers have managed to medal.
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Chen has 10 career worlds medals. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s platform synchro and two-time Olympic silver medalist in women’s platform. Both silvers were behind synchro partner Quan Hongchan, who is not diving in Singapore, which has allowed Chen to shine even more than usual.
And shine she did. She was first after every round of the semifinals and produced the best dive of four of five rounds. In the other round, she was second-best in the second round, briefly falling behind teammate Xie. The 12 divers in the final produced seven total dives worth more than 80 points; five came from Chen, whose worst dive was worth 81 points.
She scored 89.10 on her 626C in the third round, 92.40 on the 207C in the fourth and capped it with 86.40 points on the 5253B in the fifth round to seal a gold medal that was already in her pocket.
“After the Olympics, I was actually a little shaken,” Chen said. “I haven’t been in the best condition after the Olympics, so I have to thank my teammates and coaches for their support and encouragement so that I could perform the way I did today. Winning this event here has really increased my level of confidence. There’s actually still a lot of room for improvement, and I’ll continue to work hard when I get back.”
The only interruption came from Xie, who scored 91.20 on a 407C in the fourth round. But she struggled in the fourth round, her 305B getting her just 45.00 points, the worst of the 12 finalists. The slid her to third, seven points behind Pfeif.
The German was consistent the whole way. She had the third-best dive of four of five rounds, including a pair of dives worth 78.40 points. That was enough to see her past the up-and-down Xie.
Pfeif, 23, improved from 10th in Doha.
“I’ve never dreamed of almost beating China,” Pfief said. “I’m a mess emotionally right now. It’s just amazing. I’m so, so happy. I won’t complain about anything. I’m just happy, relieved, and really emotional right now. … I’m really happy that I can get Germany a medal.”
“I’m quite satisfied with bronze, but the entire process wasn’t really perfect and I have a few regrets,” Xie said. “… I have to improve on my mental strength. I wasn’t steady enough today, especially before the competition. I was a bit nervous – more nervous than when competing in China.”
Canada’s Katelyn Fung was 15 points off the podium in fourth, leaping from eighth on the final dive when she scored 81.60 on the 5253B. Ellie Cole of Australia was fifth, while Jin Mi Jo of North Korea, who has two medals at this meet and was second in prelims, struggled late in sliding to sixth.
