Changing China
Giant on the move
Snapshot Beijing, 4: The greatest dive in Olympic history
The Water Cube was almost silent as a slight blonde man who two years earlier was not even diving leapt off the ten metre platform, twisted and somersaulted through the air and slid into the water with just the slightest of splashes.
Matthew Mitcham resurfaced to an explosion of applause and as the judges’ scores came up his smile of delight dissolved into tears of disbelief.
He had snatched a medal gold from the Chinese favourites with just one, perfect dive.
For the next hour the Australian looked how I always imagined Olympic gold medalists should — overwhelmed with disbelief and delight.
A Cubist magic trick
After years of seeing just a hole in the ground, then a mess of construction cranes, then mysterious activity going on behind barrier walls, yesterday I finally got to enter the Water Cube.
There’s no doubt that it’s impressive from the outside. The rectangular building is known for its transluscent facade that evokes giant soap bubbles and at night the whole thing glows in hues of blue, a warm beacon on the otherwise grey and beige horizon of Beijing.
