It would be a day to remember for the whole life of Chinese teenager Wang Xin, who received a special gift for her 16th birthday, an Olympic gold medal.
Born on Aug. 11, 1992, Wang celebrated her 16th birthday in the Olympic Village on Monday, and the celebration continued on Tuesday as she claimed the women's 10m platform synchronized gold with her partner Chen Ruolin.
"It is the best birthday gift ever!" said Wang, winner of the individual platform in 2007 Melbourne World Championships, who also got presents from her teammates including clothes and a necklace.
Though the best ever, it was not easily earned.
On Tuesday's final, Wang and Chen, 16 and 15 respectively, winner of the event in 2007 Melbourne Worlds, made five solid dives before a huge crowd. Most members of the Chinese diving "dream team" were worried about them, especially the team leader Zhou Jihong.
Zhou said after the final that she had been quite worried about the two girls. Though the world champion pair are quite strong, they are still young and inexperienced. They might panic in front of such a huge crowd.
"The atmosphere in the venue is too fiery," said the team leader. "When they stood in the tower, and I already blasted my whistles, the audience were still shouting. It would be difficult for everyone. But the two kids were good, they waited until the crowd turned quiet."
"We tried to focus on each dive," said the new champion Wang. "I've done some preparations, too. Just don't take the Olympics too seriously, there are other competitions afterwards."