Barely a splash

So last night the wife and I sat down and watched the finals of the women's 10 metre platform diving. To compete at this ultimate level of the Olympics, the athletes were all superb divers but the top three women totally outclassed the rest.

(Picture taken from official Beijing 2008 website)
(Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Not surprisingly, China's two female competitors once again dominated. Chen Ruolin took top honors but this year Canada's Emilie Heymans was amazing! She fended off Chinese Wang Xin for the silver. Check out http://www.beijing2008.cn/ and look up the 'vital statistics' of the divers. China's two divers have a combined weight of 58 kg (28+30) - incredibly lower than Heymans' 62! A TV commentator even described Wang as a toothpick! Indeed, she hardly created a ripple when she entered the waters. As it turns out, size wasn't everything.

The form and skills of Chen and Heymans were unbeatable. Only in the fourth of five dives did Chen lose the lead to Heymans. Chen finished the evening with a dive scored at 100.3 points!

The sport of diving, particularly in the women's competition is getting younger each year. China's divers are just 16 this year and Australia also fielded a 16 year old. Heymans is one of the older competitors at 27 while veteran and past gold medalist Laura Wilkinson (USA) leaves the Olympic arena at 31. I suppose 16 must be the minimum age to compete.

Wonder how 'old' the participants of the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore will be. Just imagine...

TV commentator A: Welcome to the Women's 25 metre Crawl at the inaugural 2010 YOG here in sunny Singapore!
TV commentator B: Yes if you just joined us, you've missed an exciting final where Alexander 'Baby Face' Hinney of United States has won the gold for Judo.
TV commentator A: What a match up that was. You would think at 4 years old, he would not be able to throw opponent down! Guess those extra feedings between bouts really help! The Mongolians will be taking note at 2014- you can bet they won't rest on their silver laurels.
TV commentator B: Back to the tracks at the National University of Singapore, we can see the athletes rolling up to the starting lines. Their coaches are setting them down at the starting line and pushing the strollers away. All eyes are on lane 6, Apple (Air-pearl) Lam of Hong Kong and lane 5, Fiona Quai of Singapore. Both nations are known for their fast walkers.
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