Russian world-champion diver Yuliya Pakhalina (1977- ) and Olympic medallist
Russian diver Yuliya Pakhalina won two silver medals at the Beijing Olympics. In the dive from the three-metre board, she came second to her Chinese rival Guo Jingjing, while squeezing out another Chinese girl, Wu Minxia, for the silver. Thus, the myths and fairy tales about the invincibility of the Chinese in these diving board events are only partly true. This was Yuliya Pakhalina’s second silver at the games. The first came as a partner with Pozniakova in the synchronised dive. During her fifteen-year career, Yuliya has won almost all conceivable medals and prizes, she is a many-times European champion, twice world champion, and twice Olympic champion. This silver medal was the fifth Olympic medal in her career.
Before the event, the Chinese media were hyping up Ho Tsintsin’s victory. But, the Russian girl proved that you can compete against the robot-like Chinese and win. It has been done before. Last year, she defeated Ho Tsintsin at the “Grand Prix” in the United States. The judges seemed to have made up their minds about the Chinese girl’s victory before the event. They turned a blind eye to some of her mistakes. Guo did a bad dive on her fourth and last attempt. But, the judges still raised her score, according to experts. “Everyone wants to get the gold of course. But, it’s very hard indeed to get one. It’s a reward for some very hard work”.
18 August 2008
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=31256&cid=63&p=18.08.2008 (in English)
