Olympics-Diving-Canada and China face off after insult

BEIJING Aug 15 (Reuters) - China's "diving diva" Guo Jingjing on Friday snatched top place in the qualifying round of her final Olympic event, after shrugging off a strong start by a rival she had called "the fat Canadian" just months earlier.

Blythe Hartley was highest scorer in the women's 3 metre springboard event for the first two of five rounds, with Guo in second place, until both were outclassed by Russia's Julia Pakhalina on the third dive.

Hartley eventually finished third but said Guo's sharp comment, made when the Chinese world champion was asked who her Olympic challengers might be, had not weighed on her mind.

"I heard that a couple of months back and I immediately let it bounce off my back," the diver said after the competition.

"I respect her and her diving and she deserves a lot of credit as a diver and I don't really know her as a person," she added. Guo avoided journalists after the event.

China's top hope for what would be the nation's fifth diving gold of these Games only made it to number one after a strong final dive. Wu Minxia, the other half of a partnership that won gold in the synchronised event on Sunday, finished at 15.

Guo, who plans to retire after Beijing, claimed one gold on Sunday and has two from Athens. If she can win a fourth she will become the most successful female diver in Olympic history.

The top 18 divers out of 30 in the preliminary go on to a semi-final that will weed out another six before Sunday's final. (Additional reporting Annika Breidthardt; Editing by Alex Richardson) (For more stories visit our multimedia website "2008 Summer Olympics" here; and see our blog at blogs.reuters.com/china)