Canada's Blythe Hartley unable to improve on fifth-place showing in Sydney

Rosie DiManno

ATHENS � Chinese women have won every springboard diving gold medal in the last four Olympics.

They weren't about to ruin that streak last night.

Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia were simply sublime, never seriously challenged, pressing only each other, Russia's Yulia Pakhalina bringing up bronze.

From the historical perspective of undiminished Chinese superiority, Canada's Blythe Hartley � nicknamed Muppet � can hardly be surprised by the outcome. She gave it a valiant shot but ultimately finished fifth, a familiar result. It's where she placed in Sydney and again at the world championships a year ago.

The Olympics is one tough gig for a breakthrough, certainly in this sport.

"She's been in this fifth spot for some time," said team diving coach Mitch Geller. "It's really hard to get out of that spot. We needed one of the others to blow, to miss it, and that didn't happen. They all dove very well. Jingjing was amazing.

"We were hoping that Blythe would be really consistent and she was relying on some other (other divers') inconsistencies."

The 22-year-old Edmonton native had been better than solid coming out of the preliminaries, ranked second overall, but slipped into third place after yesterday afternoon's semifinal.

Her first effort last night, a back 2 1/2 somersault, was splendid, scoring top marks in the round.

But every subsequent round dropped Hartley further back in the pack; third-best in the second, seventh in the third and 12th in the fourth on a dismal reverse 2 1/2 somersault.

"I know my fourth dive wasn't strong at all," Hartley said. "It was really a miss."

Too far back on the board when she launched, a frisson of anxiety in mid-air, and an arched entry into the water.

"I think I panicked a little. It's just kind of a feeling that you get when the dive's not flowing. A really good dive, you're flowing right through it and there's no sudden moment when you think, `Oh no,' where you try real quick to react to it. But diving is so fast.

"By the time you react, it's too late."

Hartley watches neither the scoreboard nor the competition and she wasn't sure where she was standing as she clambered back up to the three-metre perch for her final effort. She would not have realized that, prior to the third dive, she was 10.92 points out of a bronze medal, 30.90 points after the muffed reverse.

"I just wanted to finish strong. And I'm happy that I came back and did a strong last dive because that's really important."

It was a fine effort, scoring 74.70, fourth-best in the round. It also pulled her up one notch into fifth, nudging ahead of the other Russian.

"It was a very tough competition," she said. "I knew that the top divers were going to be diving amazing and they were. It's such a strong field. I don't think finishing fifth is anything to be ashamed of."

She's right.

And Hartley will be going home � or at least back to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles � with one medal, anyway, the bronze she earned with Emilie Heymans in the springboard synchro event.

Heymans, reigning world champion on the tower, finished 10th last night on her lesser event. She claimed not to be displeased by her overall performance in Athens, despite failing to get a medal in the platform after blowing her final dive.

"I'm happy. It was a really long two weeks, a really stressful two weeks. But I'm going home really happy with my Games."

Coach Geller was somewhat less sanguine about it.

"Fourth place (for Heymans) was a real disappointment. She had it in the bag and she missed the last dive. I don't think she'll be going home celebrating her huge success."

The Canadian diving contingent had aspired to greater things in Athens. Only Montreal's Alexandre Despatie has held up his end, pulling out a nervy silver in the three-metre. He's also the gold medal favourite and reigning world champion going into today's preliminaries in the tower (6:30 a.m. EDT).

"We got two medals," said Geller, although probably not the two he was expecting. "I was hoping for three overall. I hope Al can pull it out."

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