Chen Ruolin competes during the women's 10-meter platform diving semifinal at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Thursday.
/ AP photo
LONDON (AP) — Defending champion Chen Ruolin dominated the semifinals of the women's 10-meter platform at the Olympics on Thursday in her attempt to restore China to the top of the diving podium after an unexpected loss.
Chen was one of only two divers to score more than 80 points with a single dive — but she did it four times — to finish with a total of 407.25 points.
Meaghan Benfeito of Canada qualified second with 359.90 points and Brittany Broben of Australia was third, less than half a point behind with 359.55.
Americans Brittany Viola and Katie Bell failed to qualify in 15th and 16th positions. Viola's father, Frank Viola, is a retired major league pitcher.
The top 12 finishers advanced to the final Thursday evening.
