By Sports Reporter
Doha
After two years of near misses, Chang Yani won her first women’s 3m springboard diving world title at the World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024 on Friday. Yani’s victory and mixed team artistic swimming title increased China’s gold medal tally to 14.
Yani, who finished with silver in 2023 and bronze in 2022, topped teammate Chen Yiwen, giving the powerhouse Chinese team its eighth diving gold medal in Doha.
Chen was the two-time reigning world champion and led the semifinals, giving her the prime last spot in the final. But Chang turned in five stellar dives and led all the way to finish with 354.75 points, with Chen settling for the silver at 336.60. The bronze went to South Korea’s Kim Suji at 311.25. Maddison Keeney of Australia and Sarah Bacon of the United States finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Later, China completed a sensational clean sweep of the mixed team gold medals following a fabulous free routine in Doha.
China were in a class of their own as they captured the Mixed Team Free title in fantastic fashion, adding to their success in the mixed team acrobatic routine and mixed team technical. It is their sixth artistic swimming gold medal in total in the Qatari capital, underlining their current dominance in the sport.
Japan and the United States of America both earned their second medals of the World Championships, sealing silver and bronze respectively.