Wang Zongyuan (front) and Xie Siyi of Team China compete during the men's synchronized 3m springboard final on D 5 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 28, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: VCG

China won gold in the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard competition at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, after losing in Rio in 2016.

Xie Siyi, 25, and Wang Zongyuan, 19, beat the US and German pairs with a total score of 467.82 points.

"Xie is a very quiet person, and at the battlefield as well. He focuses on every competition with extreme concentration which I admire a lot," said Wang in an interview.

For Xie, Wang is also a more like a teenager with much potential, who can "compete with foreign diving greats."

At the Rio Olympics, China's diving team bagged seven gold medals, but lost in the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard, finishing in third.  

The pair didn't train together for as long as they seemed. 

They were paired in 2020, and won in Tokyo with 504.24 points, the highest score in history.

"Often we only ask the experienced divers to compete in the springboard diving event. Yet Wang Zhongyuan is such as talented diver and he made it in short notice," according to his coach, Zhang Yonggang.

Yet unlike the talented young athlete and his smooth debut on the world competition at Olympics, Xie has been waiting for this day for five years, when he sadly missed the Rio because of the foot injury right before the event in 2016.

"I've been tortured by this sport countless times, but I treat it as my first love," said Xie as he recalled the tough times in an interview.