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Live Commentary: Olympic diving - day nine

Sports Mole brings you live updates from the women's 3m springboard final.

Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of day nine of the Olympic diving.

The women's 3m springboard event comes to a head tonight, and China's Wu Minxia is the clear favourite to take the gold medal after finishing top of the pile in the semi-final.

Wu's compatriot Zi He is also expected to make the podium despite missing out on second place to Tania Cagnotto of Italy in the last 18.

Canadian Jennifer Abel and Christina Loukas of the United States are among the other medal contenders this evening.


8.20pmJoin us at the same time tomorrow for the preliminary round of the men's 3m springboard event.

8.19pmThat's all from me today. You can read a summary of the result here.

8.00pmHe takes silver for China, and Mexico's Soto win bronze.

8.00pmWu with a stunning back 2 1/2 somersault to close the final round and take the gold medal. She finishes with a whopping points haul of 414.

7.57pmCagnotto digs deep with reverse 2 1/2 somersault, but it's agony for her! She earns 76.50, and that will miss bronze by 0.2 of a mark!

7.56pmHe's final dive is a forward 2 1/2 somersault 1 twist. It was perhaps her weakest of the evening, earning 64.50. That may clinch silver, but not gold.

7.55pmAbel finishes on a stylish forward 2 1/2 somersault 1 twist. It was her best of the day, but she was already out of the battle for bronze.

7.54pmKrug botches her final dive! Her timing was all over the place on that last one. 55.50 sees her miss the podium.

7.53pmLoukas with a solid closing dive, but 67.50 won't earn her any medals unless the others fall off the board.

7.52pmSoto of Mexico could very well have just bagged bronze with a smooth forward 2 1/2 somersault 1 twist worth 75.00! She's in for an agonising wait to see what the others can do now.

7.49pmStratton had a slender chance of bronze going into her final dive. It was an inward 2 1/2 somersault and she really nailed it, but it wasn't quite enough for a medal at 72.00. It puts her in first place temporarily, but watch her plummet.

7.47pmWe're into the final round now and gold and silver are almost certainly going to China. The bronze could end up in American, Italian or Mexican hands.

7.45pmWu pulls off a stunning reverse 2 1/2 for 84.00. She has a 14-point lead on her compatriot going into round five!

7.45pmPositions three, four and five are separated by two points now. It's going to be one hell of a scrap for bronze!

7.44pmHe with a near-perfect reverse 2 1/2 somersault to take 76.50. Cagnotto remains in its with a 72.00 for the same move.

7.42pmAbel gains ground after that poor third round dive, earning a 72.00 to move up to fourth for the time being.

7.41pmKrug looks in better form. She earns 72.00 to move into second place behind Soto!

7.41pmLoukas is slightly on entry and gets a 65.10. It's going to be tight at the top.

7.39pmHeymans is out of it, scoring 58.50 on her fourth dive. Soto is still battling for the bronze. She earns a 74.40 for her forward 3 1/2 somersault.

7.38pmStratton falters on entry on her fourth dive. A 69.00 doesn't put her out of it, but she needs to dig deeper to fight for the bronze.

7.37pmLindberg was already out of the running, and her 67.50 won't move her up the table.

7.36pmFedorova opens the fourth round with a 61.50, Patrick follows with a dive worth 58.90. They are both all but out of it.

7.34pmWu's forward 3 1/2 is the dive of the evening! She earns 85.25 and moves into the lead at the end of round three. He is in second, and Krug of the US has moved into third.

7.33pmCagnotto does her utmost to compete with that but can only earn 68.20. The Chinese are pulling away but the bronze will be fiercely contested.

7.32pmHe is on a rich vein of form now. She enters the water as straight as an arrow on her back 2 1/2 somersault. An 78.0 moves her into the lead.

7.31pmAbel is marked down for execution of her third dive. The judges give her a 55.50. They are very harsh today!

7.29pmLoukas pulls out of her shape marginally too soon. She earns 66.0 which will see her slip away. Krug performs a back 2 1/2 somersault and a higher 70.50.

7.29pmSoto is still in the game though. 75.0 for her third dive.

7.28pmHeymans's hopes of reaching the podium are fading fast. She earned 72.0, which won't do a great deal for her come the end of the round.

7.27pmStratton's forward 3 1/2 earns 66.65 to put her into the lead, but with the heavy hitters about to perform their third dives, she won't be there for long.

7.26pmLindberg's medal campaign is pretty much over. She earns 57.50 for her third dive, but the damage was done in round two.

7.24pmFedorova starts round three with a 63.00. Patrick's reverse 2 1/2 somersault notches up more points with a 60.00 from the judges.

7.23pmCagnotto is in third at the end of round two, but she's lost some ground on the two Chinese ahead of her.

7.22pmWu continues her impressive form with a 1 1/2 somersault 2 1/2 twist. She ends the round in second place.

7.22pmCagnotto remain in contention with a 69.00. She was marked down slightly for hitting the water too heavily.

7.21pmHe outdoes Abel on her second dive to earn 83.70. That puts her into the top spot.

7.20pmJennifer Abel remains in contention with an impressive forward 3 1/2 somersault earning 77.50. She's in contention for a medal.

7.19pmLoukas is penalised for her execution on her second dive. A harsh 64.50 for the judges. Compatriot Krug does better with 72.85.

7.18pmSoto of Mexico earns 67.50. That will see her slip away from the chasing pack.

7.17pmHeymans of Canada stutters on her second dive. The judges mark her down for execution, handing out 46.20. She could be out of it now.

7.16pmStratton launches into a back 2 1/3 somersault. She arches into the water and is awarded 67.50. She moves into first for the time being.

7.15pmLindberg performs a forward 3 1/2 somersault. She throws up too much on entry and is marked down on 55.80.

7.14pmPatrick of Australia performs a very precise second dive - a forward 2 1/2 somersault 1 twist, worth more than the 63.00 that the judges award.

7.13pmFedorova kicks off round two back a back 2 1/2 somersault. It was better than her first dive with the judges awarding 63.00.

7.11pmWu brings round one to a close with a silky smooth inward 2 1/2 somersault. She takes 79.50 and shoots to the top of the pile. Cagnotto and He are in joint second going into round two.

7.10pmAn excellent first dive from Italy's Cagnotto. It's a back 2 1/2 somersault worth 76.50, ranking her joint-top.

7.10pmHe of China starts with an inward 2 1/2 somersault. As as the case in the semi-final, she doesn't look her usual self, but it was still a strong dive rated at 76.50. She's in the lead, but will be under pressure.

7.09pmJennifer Abel of Canada nails her back 2 1/2 somersault. She earns a 66.0, so she's slightly off the pace.

7.08pmHer compatriot Krug pulls off a strong inward 2 1/2 somersault. She scores 72.00 and takes the lead.

7.06pmLoukas of the US performs a back 2 1/2 somersault. She slightly falters on entry for a 69.00.

7.05pmHeymans of Canada rakes in 67.50 for her opening dive. Mexico's Soto outdoes her with better execution to earn 70.50.

7.04pmThe ever consistent Stratton of Australia performs the best dive so far a forward 2/1 somersault 1 twist to earn a 70.50.

7.03pmSwedish veteran Lindberg performs the same move and racks up a 63.00. Higher than that will be required going forward for a place on the podium.

7.02pmPatrick of Australia with a back 2 1/2 somersault. A decent first dive for her. The judges say 67.50 and she takes an early lead.

7.00pmFedorova gets us under way with a forward 3 1/2 somersault. She was very composed, earns 65.80 in what will go down as a good start.

6.56pmThe divers are poolside now and the last 12 is about to commence. Olena Fedorova of the Ukraine will dive first tonight.

6.49pmUnfortunately Team GB's Hannah Starling narrowly missed the final despite a bold performance in the last 18. You can read about how that unfolded here.

6.47pmCassidy Krug and Christina Loukas of the United States, and Canada's Jennifer Abel also pose a threat.

6.45pmWhile Wu's compatriot Zi He is odds on to make the podium as well, it should be noted that Tania Cagnotto pipped her to second in the semi-finals, and could well do the same here tonight.

6.44pmWu Minxia is odds on to take the gold tonight, but silver is a more contentious issue.

6.40pmGood evening and welcome to our live text coverage of the women's 3m springboard final. Are we going to see China's domination of the diving end this evening? Don't hold you breath.
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