BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS : DAILY REPORT : DIVING : China’s Fu Stands Out in Platform Event

World champion Fu Mingxia of China never wavered Sunday on her way to the women’s 10-meter platform diving final.

The steady performance in the preliminaries by Fu, 13, contrasted with the uneven efforts of two U.S. competitors. Fu trailed Mary Ellen Clark of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., after the first of six qualifying dives, but moved into first place on her second dive.

Fu was rarely flashy, but her methodical precision showed in the results. She finished first on two dives, second and third in two others and saved her best for the more challenging optional dives.

Fu, favored to win the platform event, scored 361.770 points to lead 11 other divers into today’s final. Also qualifying were Clark and Ellen Owen of Louisville, Ky. Clark finished second with 329.850 points, and Owen rallied from 24th place after four rounds to finish fifth at 299.520.

Owen stumbled during the fourth round when her inward 2 1/2-somersault in the pike position drew a score of 43.680, the lowest of the round.

“I had to do something solid, or I would be out of it,” Owen said. “I said a lot of things to myself, some of them repeatable and some of them not, and I just basically talked myself into being the kind of diver I know I am.”

Her forward 3 1/2-somersault in the tuck position during the fifth round gave her 64.800 points, the third-highest total of that round. She scored 63.840 with her forward 3 1/2-somersault pike during the sixth round to secure fifth place.

Clark did her best to imitate Fu’s approach, and while she came close, she couldn’t match her Chinese opponent. Clark was second on two dives, but did not win any rounds. She added three other top-10 rounds.