Olympics-Diving-Britain oust champions China in men's 3 meter synchronized diving
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Britain's Jack Laugher and Chris Mears took gold in the men's 3 meter springboard event on Wednesday, dethroning reigning Olympic champions China.
Chinese divers had been targeting a sweep of all eight gold medals at the Rio diving competition, after winning six of out the total at the London 2012 Olympics.
Laugher and Mears' medal was Britain's third gold of the games. Their teammates Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow took bronze in the 10 meter synchronized competition on Monday.
The Chinese team, led by Qin Kai, had held the men's 3 meter title since the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
But in Rio, Qin and teammate Cao Yuan had to settle for third. Sam Dorman and Mike Hixon of the United States took silver after recording 98.04 - the highest score of the competition - for their final dive.
Brazil's Ian Matos and Luiz Felipe Outerelo failed to draw on the support of a vocal home crowd, splashing out in last place after posting a measly 28.8 in the second round.
The venue's pool remained a vibrant green despite assurances from Games organizers it would soon be back to its original blue color after issues with the alkalinity of the water.
Prompting further concern amongst athletes and spectators, by Wednesday the neighboring water polo pool had also adopted a green hue.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
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