Alexandre Despatie

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Despatie wins ninth diving gold

| From afp.com

Alexandre Despatie on Tuesday won his ninth Commonwealth Games diving gold after he and fellow Canadian Reuben Ross won the men's 3m springboard synchro title.

Despatie and Ross had been trailing Australia's Matthew Mitcham and Ethan Warren going into the final dive but they handled the pressure to pull off a stunning inward 3.5 somersault to take the title.

Their score of 430.35 was enough to beat Mitcham and Warren, who had to settle for silver with Malaysia's Bryan Lomas and Ken Nee Yeoh in bronze position.

"Today proved that nothing is ever over until the end. To pull it off was really satisfying," he said.

Despatie, 25, won his first gold in the Commonwealth Games as a 13-year-old in Kuala Lumpur and could make it 10 if he wins the 10m platform competition on Wednesday.

On Sunday he won the 1m springboard title for the third time in a row. The win took him past rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Orlando, who won six golds all at the Melbourne Games in 2006, and swimmer Graham Smith.

On Monday he added the 3m springboard gold in an event that saw Ross win silver.

Only three athletes have ever won 10 golds at the Games: Australia swimmers Ian Thorpe, Susie O'Neill and Leisel Jones. Jones won her 10th gold in New Delhi last week.

Despatie said it was "great" to know that he is Canada's most successful athlete at the Games.

"I wasn't aware of this until a couple of days ago. It's a great honour. I love my sport," he said.

But he cautioned against expecting too much of him in the high board event, saying it would be a "challenge".

Canada's divers have now won five golds in New Delhi, equalling their haul from Melbourne four years ago, with two more events still to come.

"Diving is not massive in Canada, so for the team to win so many gold medals is great for the sport," said Despatie, who has said he still wants to compete at the next Olympics in London in 2012.