Valli Wins Second Gold; Chinese Divers Lose Again

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, July 18, 2003

Valli Wins Second Gold; Chinese Divers Lose Again

Italian Viola Valli won her second gold medal of the world swimming championships when she took the 10-km open water event on Wednesday.

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Italian Viola Valli won her second gold medal of the world swimming championships when she took the 10-km open water event on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old Valli, who also won the 5-km race on Sunday, finished in one hour 59 minutes 49.9 seconds, 1.2 seconds ahead of second-placed Angela Maurer of Germany.

Valli weighs just 52 kilograms (114 pounds) and stands about 1.56 cm (5-2) tall.

So how does the compact Italian routinely beat her bigger opponents? "It's my secret," Valli said, before elaborating.

"My secret is in practice and having the tactics to have a great race. In long distance you don't necessarily need to have a huge body."

Vladimir Diattchine won Russia's fourth gold medal so far when he won the men's 10-km event in 1:50.58.8.

Christian Hein of Germany had to be content with runner-up spot for the second time this week when he was second behind Diattchine. He finished behind another Russian, Evgueni Kochkarov, in the 5-km event on Sunday.

Russia's women's water polo team is also unbeaten. The men, among the favorites in a wide-open field, were edged by two-time defending champions Spain on Wednesday 10-8.

Japan won their first gold medal of the championships after a near-flawless performance in the free routine combination final in the synchronised swimming. The team of eight scored 98.500 points to beat the US in second and Spain in third.

Emilie Heymans of Canada won gold in the women's 10-metre platform final, scoring 597.45 points, to beat China's Lao Lishi (595.56) and Li Na (563.43).

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