Tiny Kim Kuk-hyang propelled the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to their first-ever gold medal at the FINA World Championships, showing the strongest nerve to trump her Chinese rivals and win the women’s 10m diving crown. Sixteen-year-old Kim trailed defending champion Si Yajie and heir-apparent Ren Qian going into the last round of the five-dive final but threw down an enormous challenge with her concluding back 2-1/2 somersaults with 1-1/2 twists which netted two perfect 10s and a score of 91.20 points. Si, leading into the last round but now with no room for error, tackled the same combination next but faltered and managed only 72.00 points, leaving the destiny of title in the hands of 14-year-old Ren, who had utterly dominated the preliminary and semi-final rounds the previous day.
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