Hes like a robot, Thomas Daley said of Chinese diver Qiu Bo?less than a week before the start of the 2012 London Olympics. Or he has been known to be like a robot. But pressure sometimes gets to him. You have to be able to dive as well as him to put pressure on him. Because if you dont put pressure on him, hes not going to buckle.The British divers comment mightve seemed superfluous at the time, but it turned out to be almost prophetic. After all, Qiu Bo was slated as the favorite 10-meter platform diver coming into the 2012 Olympics. In the months leading up to the London Games, Qiu bested American David Boudia by more than 40 points at the FINA Diving World Cup, a big margin in a sport in which scores usually whittle down to the tenths and hundredths.However, those small margins can have a big impact, though, as Qiu learned the hard way in the final round of the mens 10-meter in London.Every four years, China is expected to sweep the diving competition at the Olympics. Every four years, the team fails in spectacular fashion. In 2008, it was Zhou Luxin who choked on his final dive and handed the gold medal to Matthew Mitcham. In 2012, it was Qiu Bo who gifted his gold to Boudia.But unlike Zhou, Qiu didnt choke. He was leading the competition. He was ahead of the game. Ahead of his competitors.He was just outshined because David Boudia was putting pressure on him. Will it happen again in Rio?The X factorNever mind naysayers calling the judges scores into question (yes, the crowd in London mightve been on Boudias side, but Qiu Bo had every opportunity to win). Against the precise divers of China, no one couldve predicted Boudias excellence. It was almost momentous, as he invoked Greg Louganis in his final dive with a perfect take-off, kiting the apex of his spin and ripping through the water.Ripping it means exactly what it sounds like. Its when a diver rips through the water, opening a vacuum and entering the blue without so much of a splash. Its the prestige or the finale; in a sport in which you have only seconds to make an impression, ripping it is the kind of thing that can turn sevens into eights and nines on the scoreboard.Boudia and Qiu performed the same dive: a back two-and-a-half somersault with two-and-a-half twists. Its a dive with a high degree of difficulty, but something Qiu didnt normally miss. Boudias dive just turned out better -- much better -- and it reflected on the scoreboard.After London, Boudia failed to reach the top again, always falling short of gold at international competitions. On the FINA world stage, he seemed to take a backseat. If Qiu was the picture consistency and first-place wins, Boudia mirrored that in second and third.But at the most recent Olympic trials last month, he invoked?a part of his performance from London in his final dive: a back two-and-a-half somersault with two-and-a-half twists. It was the same dive that secured him the gold medal in 2012 and the dive that sent him to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.Maybe it was a taste of whats to come. Boudia might not hold a candle to Qius consistency, but he brings something new to the table: an elusive X factor.Rehearsal and redemptionTheres a mechanical balance to Qius step. Hes technically gifted, the king of fundamentals and consistency, a diver who didnt simply master his technique but constantly innovated. Although he might not always be the first to bring a new dive to the platform (hello, Mark Lenzi), hes the first to hone it to perfection.One more flip. One more twist. Piking instead of tucking. Always upping the ante and degree of difficulty when it comes to filling in the 2.5-second free-fall window down from the platform.Its easy to find a diver with work ethic or a diver with talent. But Qiu Bo has been a once-in-a-generation kind of diver. He was tumbling?before other kids learned how to crawl. He was the favorite to take the competition that had eluded China since the 2004 Olympics in Athens.Although his performance almost exemplified consistent and mechanical diving, it wasnt enough. The silver medal from London was a blemish on Qius otherwise perfect record. While Boudia took a victory lap around the Aquatics Center, while Daley celebrated by diving into the water with his teammates, Qiu stood quietly at the poolside.Morbid. Calculating. Contemplating. Waiting for the next one.This year, yet again, China is slated to sweep the diving competition. Based off the most recent results from the FINA World Cup, its likely to happen.No, Boudia isnt the favorite, but he wasnt the favorite coming into the 2012 Olympics, either. Dont be surprised if Boudia brings something new to the table again.Qiu might not have the X factor, but because of his consistency, he might not need it. Maybe theres some validity to Daleys robot claims. 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Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team.A look ahead to the three Guinness PRO12 games on Friday night, including defending champions Glasgow v Munster live on Sky Sports. Treviso v Dragons (6.10pm) Thomas Rhys Thomas is back to captain Dragons Newport Gwent Dragons skipper Thomas Rhys Thomas makes a return from injury to start against Benetton Treviso in Italy.The 33-year-old hooker is one of six changes that have been made to last weekends team that lost to Connacht at Rodney Parade. Full-back Carl Meyer returns to the side after recovering from injury and is joined in the back three by winger Hallam Amos who has been released from Wales camp.Fly-half Jason Tovey has been rested after suffering a back injury last weekend and is replaced by Angus OBrien who partners Sarel Pretorius in the half-backs.Two changes are made to the front row as Boris Stankovich and Thomas join tighthead prop Brok Harris for the clash.There is one change in the second row as Cory Hill gets the nod alongside Rynard Landman.Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Alberto Lucchese; 1 Cherif Traorè, 2 Luca Bigi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Filo Paulo, 5 Tom Palmer, 6 Andrea De Marchi, 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 8 Dean Budd.Replacements: 16 Filippo Filippetto, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Manu Salesi, 19 Jeff Montauriol, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Robert Barbieri, 22 Chris Smylie, 23 Tommaso Iannone.Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Angus OBrien, 9 Sarel Pretorius; 1 Boris Stankovich, 2 Thomas Rhys Thomas (c), 3 Brok Harris, 4 Cory Hill, 5 Rynard Landman, 6 Ben White, 7 Nic Cudd, 8 Nick Crosswell.Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Hugh Gustafson, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Lewis Evans, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Geraint Rhys Jones, 23 Ross Wardle.Ospreys v Edinburgh (7.05pm) Brendon Leonard leads Ospreys in their important clash with Edinburgh Edinburgh have made four changes to the side that lost 22-21 to the Scarlets last weekend.Two players in the backline have been promoted from the bench to start against seventh-place Ospreys, with Sean Kennedy slotting in at scrum-half in place of Nathan Fowles and Dougie Fife moving onto the right wing where he takes over from Damien Hoyland.There are two changes to the starting pack as Allan Dell moves into the loosehead prop berth for Rory Sutherland who is with the Scotland national team, while Jamie Ritchie takes up the No 6 jersey in place of Mike Coman who is ruled out with a calf injury.Ospreys meanwhile come into the clash after beating Munster at Irish Independent Park on Sunday. While head coach Steve Tandy was pleased with the result, he warned his team to keep their feet on the ground.We know that if we dont back up the Munster result with a similar performance and outcome then all our efforts inn Cork will be wasted, said Tandy.ddddddddddddWere going up against an experienced, big and physical team who have the second best defence in the league, so its not going to be easy.Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Ben John, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Brendon Leonard (c); 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Sam Parry, 3 Maafu Fia, 4 James King, 5 Rory Thornton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Dan Baker.Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Eli Walker.Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Michael Allen, 12 Sam Beard, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sean Kennedy; 1 Allan Dell, 2 Neil Cochrane (c), 3 John Andress, 4 Anton Bresler, 5 Ben Toolis, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Cornell Du Preez.Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Grant Sheills, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Blair Kinghorn.Glasgow v Munster (7.35pm on Sky Sports 5) Glasgow Warriors Leone Nakarawa and Leone Nakarawa line up against Munster this Friday Full match preview hereGlasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Glenn Bryce, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Ali Price; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 James Malcolm, 3 Sila Puafisi, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 6 Rob Harley, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Josh Strauss (c).Replacements: 16 Cammy Fenton, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Fraser Lyle, 23 Rory Hughes.Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 David Johnston, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Ronan OMahony; 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomás OLeary; 1 Dave Kilcoyne, 2 Niall Scannell, 3 John Ryan, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Billy Holland (c), 6 Jack ODonoghue, 7 Tommy ODonnell, 8 Robin Copeland.Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 James Cronin, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Johnny Holland, 23 Cian Bohane. 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