Doha, Qatar, February 3, 2024: IOC President Thomas Bach witnessed some Chinese magic on the second day of the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 on Saturday.
President Bach, accompanied by World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam, saw China’s Huang Jianjie and Zhang Jiaqi win the mixed synchronized 10m platform event at the Hamad Aquatics Centre.
It was another incredible performance by the Chinese divers, especially considering Huang is only 13 years old, having been born two years after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Zhang is a relative veteran at 19.
Their five-dive sequence gave them a total of 353.82 points in the nine-pair competition, well clear of the DPRK Korea team of Jo Jin-Mi and Im Yong-Myong, who took the silver medals with 303.96 - 49.86 points down on the new world champions.
Kevin Berlin Reyes and Alejandra Estudillo Torres of Mexico won the bronze medal with 296.13 points from their five dives.
The young Chinese thrilled the crowd at the Hamad Aquatics Centre with their high-speed twists and synchronicity, and the North Koreans also turned on the style, even though they had been training together only three months.
Im said: “It is a nice feeling to win the silver medal, but we’re not really satisfied very much. We did not perform as well as we expected, and we need to train more to close the gap on China.”
The World Aquatics Championships - Doha 2024 are running from February 2-18 at three venues and will involve all six aquatic disciplines.
The opening ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 4.
