Defending champion

在雅典的双人跳板上，巴塞罗那世锦赛冠军郭晶晶和吴敏霞为中国跳水队打响头一炮，登上三米板双人冠军领奖台。在比赛中两人配合默契，五个动作共得三百三十六点九分，以领先六分的优势击碎了俄罗斯选手贝拉·伊琳娜和尤利娅·帕卡琳娜的卫冕之梦。外电报道如下：The Chinese pair lead for four of the five rounds to push defending champions Yulia Pakhalina and Vera Ilyina of Russia into the silver medal position with veteran Australian duo Irina Lashko and Chantelle Newbery taking bronze. Defending champions表示“卫冕冠军”，动词defend本身就有“（运动冠军）参加卫冕比赛”的意思，例如：She is running to defend her 400 meters title. (她为蝉联400米冠军而参赛。)