On the evening of February 7, Beijing Time, during the men’s 3m springboard final of diving at the World Aquatics Championships 2024 in Doha, Qatar, Wang Zongyuan, who was admitted by the School of Sports Training of Wuhan Sports University (WHSU) in 2020 as an undergraduate, scored 538.70 points, claiming his third consecutive title at the World Aquatics Championships and his second gold medal at the current tournament.

Wang Zongyuan is a new diving star emerging before the Tokyo Olympics and this is his third time representing China at the World Aquatics Championships. He won the gold medal in this event at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest in 2022. At that World Aquatics Championships, he also won gold medals in the men’s 3m synchronized springboard and the men’s 1m springboard, making him the first person ever to win three gold medals in diving at a single World Aquatics Championships. In 2023, at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Wang Zongyuan successfully defended his titles in the men’s solo 3m springboard and the men’s 3m synchronized springboard, becoming the first post-2000s Chinese athlete who has won ten world championships.

At this year’s World Aquatics Championships, Wang Zongyuan also competed in two events. On the evening of February 4, he teamed up with Long Daoyi to win the title again with 442.41 points in the final of the men’s 3m synchronized springboard, which was the first to take place. In the men’s 3m solo springboard competition, Wang Zongyuan’s biggest rival is his old partner Xie Siyi, whom he teamed up with to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The returning Guangdong veteran performed well in the China Diving National Championships 2023 and the Diving Trials (Stop 2) for the World Aquatics Championships in Doha. This world’s top level competition was intense between them. Wang Zongyuan made different errors in his fifth dive in both the preliminaries and semifinals, and advanced to the final behind Xie Siyi in both rounds.

In the final, Wang Zongyuan positively adjusted his mentality and had the last laugh with his good on-the-spot performance. For the first four dives, Wang Zongyuan led all the way. In the fifth dive, he didn’t make any error again and continued to consolidate the lead. In the sixth dive, Wang Zongyuan scored 100.70 points and secured the gold medal.