GWANGJU, South Korea, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Perfect marks were shown for the first time in diving at the 18th FINA World Swimming Championships, as Chinese teenager Chen Yuxi won the women's 10m platform here on Wednesday to score China's ninth gold medal at the tournament.
Competing in her first worlds, 13-year-old Chen dominated both the semifinal and final to score a record-high 439 points to take the gold.
Two perfect marks were given to her third dive, the 626C (Armstand backward triple somersault) for a day-high 94.05 points, followed by another 94.05 for her high quality 207C (Backward 3.5 somersault) .
"Everybody told me to relax before the final, but I still could hear my heart beat. I was shaky in the first two dives and then I felt better and better. I thought about challenging myself and reaching above 440. I did my best and I was excited to be the champion on the podium," Chen said.
Another Chinese rookie 13-year-old, Lu Wei, chased Chen all the way to take silver with 377.80. Delaney Schnell of the United States placed third with 364.20.
"Though I had a gold medal from the synchro, I was still nervous about competing in the individual event. I made a mistake in the second dive but overall was OK," said Lu.
