DIVING U.S. blanked again in 3-meter event

XATHENS, Greece -- The U.S. diving team is running out of time to win an Olympic medal.
A sport once ruled by the likes of Greg Louganis, Pat McCormick and Sammy Lee has done its own version of a belly-flop at the Athens pool, failing to make up any ground on the powerful Chinese.
The Americans were blanked again Tuesday night in men's 3-meter springboard. Peng Bo won China's third straight gold medal in the event, holding off Canadian teenager Alexandre Despatie and four-time Olympian Dmitri Sautin of Russia.
The Americans? Nowhere near the medal stand.
"We have to go back and get to work," coach Ken Armstrong said. "Work smarter and work harder. It's a good challenge for us. We'll be back, I guarantee you."
Troy Dumais, the lone U.S. diver to make the final, started the night in sixth -- and finished there. Now, the Americans are facing the very real possibility of their first Olympic diving shutout since 1912.
There are only two events left, and the U.S. divers aren't considered strong medal contenders in either.
China's stellar team already has piled up four diving golds in Athens, putting itself in position to equal or beat its five golds from Sydney in 2000.
Peng bounced back from the disappointment of synchronized springboard, in which his partner, Wang Kenan, entered the water totally out of control on the final dive. The landing was so bad that the duo scored no points, dropping them from first to last place.
Diving alone, Peng didn't blow it. His dives -- often performed with his mouth wide open -- featured stunning height off the board, tightly wrapped turns and hardly a ripple when he entered the water.
He received five 10s on his second dive, another perfect mark on his fifth and never saw a score lower than 8.0 the entire night.
"From the Chinese point of view, it is very difficult to think that far ahead," he said. "The Chinese tradition is to do things step by step. I have the gold medal today. It doesn't mean I'm going to have it forever."
Associated Press