In the early morning of July 3rd, Beijing time, the women’s single three-meter springboard final of the World Swimming Championships in Budapest came to an end. Chen Yiwen won the championship with 366.90 points, thus taking an advantage in the competition for the new "first sister" in the three-meter springboard.
Chen Yiwen FINA official website
This is the third time Chen Yiwen has participated in the World Championships, but it is the first time he has participated in the three-meter springboard event. In 2017, the last time the World Championships were held in Budapest, Chen Yiwen finished fourth in the women's one-meter springboard final, and the mixed team partnered with Qiu Bo only finished sixth. Two years later in Gwangju, South Korea, she finally won the one-meter board. This is the only way for the Chinese women's three-meter springboard diving to become the "first sister". The previous "first sister" Shi Tingmao , in the seven years from the 2014 World Cup to the Tokyo Olympics, never let the three-meter springboard gold medal fall by the wayside in the competition. Her brilliant start was when she won the women's one-meter springboard championship at the 2011 Shanghai World Championships.
After the Tokyo Olympics, Shi Tingmao and another Chinese women's singles three-meter springboard player of her generation, Wang Han, transitioned to serve as national team coaches, leaving the position of "first sister" vacant. This is not only a turbulent juncture, but also an opportunity for the two Chinese athletes Chen Yiwen and Chang Yani who are competing in the women's singles three-meter springboard at this World Championships.
In terms of opportunities, Chang Yani is better than Chen Yiwen. As a "post-00s", she also appeared on the stage of the World Championships in 2017, and the two events she participated in at that time were the women's one-meter springboard and the women's doubles three-meter springboard. Shi Tingmao completed the competition process in two steps in 2011 and 2013, but Chang Yani completed it in one session. She finished 24th in the one-meter springboard event. In the women's doubles three-meter board, she and Shi Tingmao were crowned champions. When Chen Yiwen won her first world championship title in the mixed team event at the 2018 World Cup, Chang Yani partnered with Shi Tingmao and won the women's doubles three-meter springboard event. At the 2019 Gwangju World Championships, she also got the chance to compete in the women's singles meter springboard, but unfortunately she finished sixth and missed the medal.
But no matter whose opportunity came earlier or who made faster progress, Chen Yiwen and Chang Yani stood on the same starting line in Budapest this time. This women's singles three-meter springboard final is not only a competition for the gold medal, but also a competition for the future of the two. 405B, 205B, 305B, 107B and 5152B, this set of movements with a difficulty level of 15.1, Shi Tingmao was dancing at the beginning, and now both of them are dancing as well. Chen Yiwen made almost no mistakes in her five jumps, while Chang Yani's first jump was scored by the referee, her third and fifth jumps were nearly perfect, and she made mistakes in her second and fourth jumps. In the most difficult set of moves, 107B (forward somersault three-and-a-half times), she failed to fully expand her body before entering the water, and the splash was a bit big. In the end, she only got 57.35 points for this jump that was supposed to get a high score. It only ranked 8th, and the overall ranking dropped from 3rd to 5th.
If the Japanese player who had been ranked second before had not made a major mistake in the last jump to challenge the difficult 5154B (forward two-and-a-half-turn twist and two-week bend), Chang Yani would have slipped to seventh place. Nan relied on the last jump to counterattack and won the third place with 325.85 points. "I didn't show my level today and made mistakes. I could have achieved better results." Chang Yani said after the game, "Go back and continue to work hard, improve your shortcomings and make up for the shortcomings." Chen Yiwen expressed his appreciation for the results. Satisfied, she said: "I feel like I haven't completely let go of my jump today, and all my movements are relatively conservative. Before I won the gold medal, I was under a lot of pressure because I saw everyone in the team had won the gold medal. Now that the competition is over, all of a sudden Relaxed a lot. We are very confident in the double three-meter springboard."
(Original title: Chen Yiwen wins the single three-meter springboard and leads the battle for the new "first sister")
Source: Beijing News Sports Reporter Li Yuanfei
Process Editor: u011
