had never left. Cutting through the water's surface with the same, nearly splashless entries that earned her three Olympic gold medals before her 1996 retirement, the diminutive diver made her return to international competition a success Wednesday by winning the 10-meter platform title in the University Games.
Fu triumphed on the strength of three brilliant efforts against the backdrop of a gray-blue sky at Palma's new Son Hugo swimming and diving complex. Her fifth and last dive, though, was shaky and made the final margin tight.
She finished with 522.390 points to beat Chinese teammate Wang Rui by 0.390. Canada's Anne Montminy took the bronze with 504.930.
``I was not very satisfied with today's performance. I expected to do better,'' Fu, 21, said through a translator. ``It's a little bit difficult to come back to competition.''
Her form suggested she could be a factor in the 2000 Sydney Olympics if she opts to go.
``She just did what she needed to win today,'' Fu's trainer, Fen Yu, said. ``I think she'll be ready'' for Sydney.
Elsewhere Wednesday, Ukraine upset the defending champion American team 81-70 in women's basketball to earn a top seed for Friday's quarterfinals. The United States (2-1) still advances to the final eight, along with host Spain, Lithuania, Portugal, Taiwan, Russia and Canada. The United States men, winners of five straight gold medals, beat Lithuania 97-88 in preliminary round play.
At the pool, Mark Warkentin of the United States captured his fourth gold medal with a comfortable victory in the 400-meter freestyle. He'll aim to join the handful of athletes who have won as many as five golds in a single University Games by winning the 1,500 freestyle on Friday.
His was one of seven American medals in the pool. Amy Balcerzak gave the team its other gold in the 100 breaststroke, edging teammate and 1996 Olympic champion Amanda Beard.
The day's top individual performance came from Adam Pine, who studies at Nebraska. He took the 100 butterfly in 53.81, and half an hour later anchored Australia's victory in the men's 4x100 freestyle relay. Italy was second and the United States third, the first relay the Americans have failed to win here.
In diving, Katherine Pesek of the United States was 10th behind the 5-foot-2 Fu, who will also compete in the 3-meter springboard on Saturday.
Fu's platform and springboard golds in the Atlanta Games made her the first woman in 36 years to win both Olympic events. She added those to her platform gold from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Fu, who was 12 when she won her first world title, quit the sport shortly after Atlanta, although she had to petition the government for permission.
She now studies economics at Beijing's prestigious Qinghua University.
China has an advantage in training over American college divers, who are restricted by the NCAA in how many hours they can work out. That has helped the Chinese dominate the sport since the 1984 Olympics. [AP]
Games-Diving-Fu Mingxia Captured 2nd Gold (1999-07-10)Games-Fu wins second diving gold at World Student Games (1999-07-09)Fu Mingxia returns from hiatus with gold medal (1999-07-07)6 (11285)
