Chinese teenager Chen Ruolin won the Olympic women's 10m platform diving gold, giving the host nation its seventh gold from seven events.
The 15-year-old scored 447.70 points after hitting a backward 2½ somersault with 1½ twists with her final dive.
Canadian Emilie Heymans earned silver and Chen's compatriot Wang Xin claimed the bronze, while British pair Tonia Couch and Stacie Powell also impressed.
They finished eighth and 10th respectively at the Water Cube.
The 10m platform had been China's weakest point in past Olympics, with American diver Laura Wilkinson beating China's Li Na in Sydney and Australian Chantelle Newbery stunning favourite Lao Lishi in Athens.
But on this occasion Wilkinson finished ninth in her final competition before retiring, and Chen was too good in the end for the consistent Heymans, who held the lead after her penultimate dive.
"We're going to use this experience and hopefully be challenging for the medals in 2012"Chen earned four 10s and three 9.5s for her final dive - rated 3.4 degree of difficulty. Overall, she received seven 10s during the five-round final.
The mostly Chinese crowd inside the Water Cube roared when her scores lit up the board, with the biggest coming when the teenager's victory was confirmed.
Chen, a tiny 4ft 6in and 33kg, who began diving at the age of four, cried when she realised she had clinched the gold medal.
Powell, 22, insists the British duo will use the experience of competing in an Olympic final to their advantage in the run-up to 2012.
She said: "It was our first Olympics, we didn't know what to expect but we can now prepare ourselves over the next four years.
"I'm really looking forward to London. We're going to use this experience and hopefully be challenging for the medals in 2012."
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~55~RS~)