Sautin wins third diving gold for Russia

American Dumais takes silver

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Posted: Sunday July 26, 1998 07:08 PM

Sautin never failed to get at least one mark of 8.5 or better on each of his 11 dives and finished with 696.99 points AP

UNIONDALE, New York (AP) -- Dmitri Sautin already had proved he was the best diver in the world. The Russian merely confirmed it at the Goodwill Games.

Sautin, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist and the 1994 and 1998 world champion on the platform, captured gold in the 3-meter springboard Sunday, duplicating his 1998 world title in that event.

Sautin easily defeated American teenager Troy Dumais, whose silver-medal performance was a major climb from his 10th-place finish in 3-meter at the World Championships in Perth, Australia.

Sautin never failed to get at least one mark of 8.5 or better on each of his 11 dives and finished with 696.99 points, while Dumais, 18, of Ventura, California, was second with 648.15.

"I try not to miss too many dives, but I'm human, I'm alive," Sautin said. "Good training and the coach definitely play a major part. I've been training since childhood. I started platform diving when I was 9 years old."

Dumais was 10th in the Goodwill 1-meter, an event in which he finished second at the World Championships, and he criticized himself for allowing "stupid thoughts" to enter his head.

"Today, all I did was concentrate on doing my dive," Dumais said. "I sort of think in the opposite direction. Instead of thinking [a dive] downwards, I think upwards."

Dumais called Sautin "a diving machine," but said he could beat the Russian before too long.

"This second-place finish gives me confidence in the future," he said. "This should help me a lot."

Zhou Yilin of China won the bronze medal with 636.78 points. Zou won the silver medal in the 1-meter ahead of Mark Ruiz of Orlando, Florida, who was 10th in the 3-meter.

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