China's Peng Bo dives during the men's three metre springboard final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (news - web sites), August 24, 2004. Peng Bo won gold, Alexandre Despatie of Canada the silver medal and Dmitri Sautin of Russia won bronze. (Reuters)

The Chinese finished in a familiar spot at the Olympic diving pool. Peng Bo held off Canadian teenager Alexandre Despatie and four-time Olympian Dmitri Sautin of Russia to win the 3-meter springboard Tuesday night, giving the Chinese men their third straight gold medal in the event.

Overall, the Chinese have won four diving golds in Athens, putting the powerful team in position to equal or beat its five golds from Sydney in 2000.

"It's very difficult for me to describe my feelings," Peng said. "I feel excited and also very calm."

Peng sure bounced back from the disappointment of synchronized springboard, in which his partner, Wang Kenan, entered the water totally out of control on the final dive. The belly-flop landing was so bad that the duo scored no points, dropping them from first to last place.

Diving alone, Peng didn't blow it. His dives - often performed with his mouth wide open - featured stunning height off the board, tightly wrapped turns and hardly a ripple when he entered the water.

He received five 10s on his second dive, another perfect mark on his fifth and never saw a score lower than 8.0 the entire night.

Peng clinched the gold with one last splash of brilliance - a forward 2 1/2 somersault with two twists. The diminutive 23-year-old climbed from the pool, turning to bow toward the water as the Chinese fans screamed and waved their red-and-yellow flags.

The result wasn't in doubt. A string of 9s flashed across the scoreboard, along with an unbeatable total of 787.38 points. The gold belonged to Peng.

He wasn't ready to look ahead to 2008, when he could dive in his home country as the defending Olympic champion.

"From the Chinese point of view, it is very difficult to think that far ahead," he said. "The Chinese tradition is to do things step by step. I have the gold medal today. It doesn't mean I'm going to have it forever."

(Agencies)

springboard: a flexible board for jumping upward（跳板）

ripple: a small wave on the surface of a liquid（水波）

somersault: an acrobatic feat in which the feet roll over the head (either forward or backward) and return（翻跟頭）