China tries to clean sweep with 8-for-8 in diving gold at Paris Olympics
Chinese divers won seven of eight gold medals at the last Olympics in Tokyo, termed one of the greatest performances in Olympic history.
Even more is expected this time in Paris.
China has ruled diving for decades. But it's never pulled off the elusive gold sweep at the Games. The People's Daily the official newspaper of the Communist Party termed this lapse regrettable in a recent article.
How's that for pressure?
I hope that all of us can stand on the top of the podium, Tokyo gold medalist Quan Hongchan said in an interview on state-run television.
They might, and the record is already staggering.
Starting with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where China claimed its first diving gold, it has won 47 of 64 gold medals. Add to that 23 silver and 10 bronze. If you start counting from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chinese have won 27 of 32 gold.
That's almost perfection, but someone always spoils the party like American David Boudia, Australian Matthew Mitcham, Briton Tom Daley or Ru