Greg Louganis heads qualifiers

Press, 27 September 1988, Page 23

Greg Louganis heads qualifiers

NZPA-Reuter Seoul The American, Greg Louganis, stayed on course to become the first man to retain both Olympic diving titles when he headed yesterday’s qualifying for the highboard final. Louganis, who won his second springboard

! crown six days ago, was in second place after the ! four compulsory dives i behind China’s Xiong Ni, i at 14, half his age. i Still sporting a head i dressing after hitting the board during springboard > qualifying, Louganis dropped to fourth after a 5 relatively poor effort in I the first of his six op-

tional dives. But he took over the lead in the seventh round and held it to the end, finishing with a total of 617.67 points. Xiong, placed second among the 12 qualifiers with 601.50 points, followed by compatriot Li Kongzheng — bronze medallist behind

Louganis in Los Angeles four years ago and second to the American at the 1986 world championships . — in third place with 578.31. The marks do not carry through to today’s final but determine the starting order. Louganis will be last to dive in each round.