It was no contest. It never was.
In the men’s platform Saturday, the final diving event, Tian Liang of China won the gold and Hu Jia of China won the silver.
In the finals, the two men combined to score 14 perfect 10s. The rest of the 12-man field scored one 10. That went to bronze medalist and defending Olympic gold medalist Dmitry Sautin of Russia.
There were no 10s for the two American divers. Mark Ruiz, 21, of Orlando, finished sixth and two-time Olympian David Pichler, 32, of Butler, Pa., was ninth.
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Laura Wilkinson’s unexpected women’s platform gold was the only U.S. medal, making this the worst performance by a U.S. Olympic diving team. Other than the 1980 boycott, the United States has won at least two medals every Games since 1912.
“We got two people in just about every final,” U.S. coach Jay Lerew said. “It’s very difficult just to make the finals anymore. I’m pleased with our team.”
The Chinese team won five gold diving medals, an Olympic record in a year in which four new events were added–men’s and women’s synchronized platform and springboard–and took five silver medals.
Tian got five of the 10s and totaled 724.53 points. Hu, a 17-year-old who was a late replacement for an injured teammate, finished with 713.55 points and scored six of seven 10s (the French judge gave him a 9.5) .
Sautin was 45.27 points out of first. The field was outclassed.
“Diving is China’s strong point,” Tian said. “It’s probably because of our physique and because we work very hard. Being an Olympic champion is every athlete’s dream. To win the title is the sweetest.”
The two Chinese never gave the field a chance for hope in the final round. Tian opened by scoring three 10s and four 9.5s on his first dive and Hu had one 10 and nothing lower than a 9 on his first dive.
Ruiz had come here expecting to medal. He left with a new appreciation of the Chinese competition and with deflated hopes.
“It hurts me because I wanted to come through with a medal,” Ruiz said. “I worked so hard and did everything I could do. But I’m not giving up for anything. In the next four years I will come back and get a medal.”
Sautin, a three-time Olympian, leaves Sydney with a gold in synchronized platform, silver in synchronized springboard and bronzes in platform and springboard.
“Every time I see my Chinese colleagues, I see a certain consistency to their performance,” he said. “I find it more and more difficult to compete with them.”