efore turning 30 years old.But there were also ugly episodes, like American swimmer Ryan Lochtes fabricated story about a harrowing robbery that was actually an intoxicated-fueled

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Chinas dominance at the diving pool shows no signs of waning.Si Yajie and Ren Qian went 1-2 in the preliminaries of womens 10-meter platform Wednesday, setting themselves up to challenge for Chinas sixth diving gold medal of the Rio Olympics.Si scored no lower than 76.50 in any of the five rounds and posted the top score of 397.45 points. Ren was a bit off on her third dive but still claimed the second spot at 385.80.No one else was even close. Jessica Parratto of the United States took third at 346.80.The top 18 moved on to Thursdays semifinals.Reigning world champion Kim Kuk Hyang of North Korea wont be one of them. She stunningly failed to advance, finishing 25th out of 28 divers with just 263.20.Kims next-to-last dive was so over-rotated, she nearly did a belly flop entering the water. Her coaches grimaced as Kim climbed out of the pool, taking a quick bow before hustling off the deck. Her last dive was much better, but it didnt make much of a difference.The first aquatics world champion produced by her reclusive nation, Kim finished 26.25 behind teammate Kim Un Hyang, who was the final qualifier.Two-time Olympic champion Chen Ruolin didnt get a chance to make it three in a row. In a sign of just how deep and strong the Chinese are in this sport, she wasnt even picked to compete individually off the tower, though she did win gold in the 10-meter synchronized event teaming with Liu Huixia.With Si and Ren, there appears to be little drop-off.Pandelela Rinong Pamg of Malaysia, bronze medalist in this event four years ago, advanced to the semis with the sixth-best score. She already won silver in 10-meter synchro at Rio, giving her a shot at becoming the first Malaysian athlete in any sport to capture three Olympic medals.Parrattos American teammate, Katrina Young, moved on as well after finishing 12th.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .NMD NZ On Sale . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Wholesale NMD NZ . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. http://www.nmdoutletnz.com/ . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Authentic Adidas Running Shoes NZ . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Cheap Adidas Shoes NZ . LOUIS -- St.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Shaking to samba and sharing reflections in uniquely Brazilian ways, Olympians and fans said goodbye to the Rio Games with one last big bash that was both revelatory and a sigh of relief.The Rio Games, the first in South America, were a 16-day spectacle that combined numerous highlight reel moments with ugly and even bizarre episodes that sometimes overshadowed the competitions. And Rio residents, known as Cariocas, were not about to let sporadic rains and strong wind gusts get in the way of a final hurrah.These were marvelous Olympic Games in the `marvelous city, said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, playing off the cidade maravilhosa nickname of Brazils postcard city of inviting coastlines, year-round sun and lush tropical vegetation.While the stadium erupted in applause at that designation, a few minutes later there were boos of sadness when he announced: I declare the Games of the XXXI Olympiad closed.The closing ceremony in iconic Maracana Stadium was also meant to take care of some business -- formally signaling the transition to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan.But Sundays party was all about Brazil, designed to be more low-key than the opening, which focused heavily on Rio.The ceremony featured original footage of Alberto Santos Dumont, the man that Brazilians recognize as the inventor of the airplane. The theme, Brazilians can do with their bare hands, was a nod to the emerging economy of the worlds fifth most populous nation.Dressed in colorful feathers, dozens of dancers formed in the shape of the arches of Lapa, a popular area of Rio akin to Roman ruins, then morphed to make the shape of iconic Sugarloaf before quickly changing again, this time to the official 2016 symbol.Samba legend Martinho da Vila, whose tunes make their way into many popular telenovelas, sang Carinhoso, or Affectionate.The athletes poured in under light rain, waving their flags while many shook their bodies to samba-infused pop that made the stadium feel like a Carnival parade. Britains athletes wore shoes with soles that lit up in changing colors of red, white and blue, while Tongan taekwondo athlete Pita Taufatofua danced onstage in a grass skirt as a DJ performed, reprising a moment that captured attention when he carried the flag for his country during the opening ceremony.The show widened its lens to greater Brazil, a massive country with a land mass slightly larger than the continental United States. There was a tribute to cave paintings of some of the first inhabitants of the Americas, in Serra da Capivara, in Northeastern Brazil, today the nations poorest region.Spectators got to see performers shake it to frevo, a frenetic dance that -- if its even possible -- makes high-octane samba seem like a staid ballroom affair. Holding small umbrellas, dancers jumped and marched while performing acrobatics.They shook it to Vassourinhas, which means small brooms, a popular song that was also the name of a famous club in the northeastern city of Recife.ddddddddddddThe show also built performances around saudade, which means anything from longing for someone to sadness to remembering good times. It is one of the most important words in Brazilian Portuguese. Lights flashed translations for the word in many languages, and a group of women sang Mulher Rendeira, or Lace-making Woman, a nod to the countrys African heritage. Brazil was the last country in the Americas to outlaw slavery, in 1888.The games had many memorable moments, both for Brazilian competitors at home and athletes from around the world.Soccer-crazed Brazil got partial payback against Germany, winning gold two years after a 7-1 World Cup semifinal shellacking that left many in Latin Americas largest nation fuming. American gymnast Simone Biles asserted her dominance with four golds, swimmer Michael Phelps added five more to up his staggering total to 23 and the worlds fastest man, Usain Bolt, put on his usual show with three golds just days before turning 30 years old.But there were also ugly episodes, like American swimmer Ryan Lochtes fabricated story about a harrowing robbery that was actually an intoxicated-fueled vandalism of a gas station bathroom, and bizarre issues like Olympic diving pools going from crystal blue to gunky, algae green -- at a time when Rios water quality in open waters is one of the biggest local environmental issues.Theres widespread expectation that the games in Tokyo, one of the worlds richest, most recognizable, cosmopolitan cities, will run more smoothly than they have in Rio. But theres also worry in Japan over whether the Olympics will eventually further drag down an economy that has been struggling for decades.The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, accepted the flag from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, signaling the transition.Many people, from Brazilians to IOC members, will analyze how things went for the Rio Games in the months ahead. But on Sunday, one strong sentiment was relief -- that despite some problems, overall the games went well.That wasnt a given going in. The Zika virus scared away some competitors and tourists, rampant street crime in Rio and recent extremist attacks around the world raised fears about safety and Brazils political crisis, and the economic angst behind it, threatened to cast a pall over the competitions.We are very resilient, we didnt leave anything important unaddressed, said Augusta Porto, 36, a translator and Rio resident. We can welcome people despite the serious problems that we have faced in the recent past.---This story has been corrected to reflect that Brazil lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semifinal, not final.---AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org---Peter Prengaman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/peterprengamanMauricio Savarese on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MSavarese ' ' '