Bill Beacon

MONTREAL (CP) - Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., made a golden statement Tuesday on the three-metre springboard.

Despatie, the honourary spokesman for the world aquatic championships, made history before his home fans by becoming the first diver ever to break the 800-point barrier in the event. The stocky 20-year-old Despatie was nearly flawless in six dives in the final to finish first with 813.60 points. Troy Dumais of the U.S. was second with 752.76 points and Chong He of China was third with 730.77 points. Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire, Que., was 11th with 628.77.

"What happened to me is unbelievable," said Despatie. "I'm in shock. The 813 points is hard to believe. It's one of the first times in my career I've been able to stay on top all day."

A capacity crowd of more than 4,000 roared with each dive as Despatie, whose pop star image has been plastered on posters promoting the championships, gave Canada its third diving medal in as many days.

Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver won gold in the women's one-metre springboard Monday and Roseline Filion of Laval and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal took bronze in the three-metre synchronized event Sunday.

Of the three, only Despatie's carried the weight of expectation. He won gold on the 10-metre platform at the last world championships in 2003 and took silver in the three-metre event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, losing to Bo Peng of China. Peng finished fourth on Tuesday.

Despatie is just the third diver ever to win gold in both the three-metre and 10-metre events at the world championships. The other two were legends Greg Louganis of the U.S. and Dmitry Sautin of Russia.

Anything but a medal Tuesday would have been a disappointment to Despatie.

"This is the best because it was at home," he said. "I got the people the gold.

"People expected so much and I didn't disappoint them. I wanted a big performance for the people here and in Canada."

It was the last event in which the 10-metre barrier will be relevant. Next year, international rules will see five compulsory dives dropped and six optionals added. Divers may need 1,000 points to win a medal.

The record came into view on Despatie's third dive of the final, a nearly flawless reverse 3.5 tuck that earned a remarkable 100.80 points, the highest score for a dive on the day.

And he nearly muffed it.

"I didn't get to the end of the board, I was so far back," he said. "But I got in the air, squeezed the tuck and I didn't give up.

"I'm just glad I did it when I needed it. That third dive has always been make or break. In Athens (on the platform, where he finished fourth), it was my miss. I missed it in the preliminaries, too. I really needed it."

Dumais, whose father was born in Vancouver and who is coached in Texas by Ingersol, Ont., native Kenny Armstrong, won his second medal of the championships. He and his brother Justin Dumais won bronze in the men's three-metre synchro diving event Sunday.

It was also a second medal for Chong, who won the synchro event Sunday with partner Feng Wang.

Dumais was in awe of Despatie.

"He's a great competitor," Dumais said. "He knows how to turn it on and when to turn it off.

"The things he already has ingrained in his diving, other people have to work for. That's what I'm learning. Today I did a good job, but Alexander did a great, great job."

Miranda said he lost focus on his own performance from watching his friend Despatie.

"It was amazing with the crowd," said Miranda, "He's beyond good, he's amazing.

"Nothing bothers him. He's the man."

It was also Miranda's best ever performance at a world championships.

Canada, with two gold and one bronze, is second behind China in the medal standings. The Chinese have two gold a silver and a bronze.

It's been a tough year for Despatie, between helping to sell the championships despite early financial and organizational woes, he had to deal with a back injury that prevented him from training for the 10-metre event. He will compete on the one-metre competition Thursday.

"I won't have time to celebrate," he said. "My one-metre is coming up.

"I have to go home, get some rest and get ready for another event."

Despatie, who was first in a rain-interrupted preliminary round, was first by a wide margin in the semis with 765.03 points. He had four perfect 10s on his second of five dives and three more on his third dive.

Organizers expect a sellout crowd Wednesday at the diving pool when medal favourite Emilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., competes in the 10-metre platform event.

put on line by SVP