8 pivotal moments in Olympic diving in Paris in 2024
China’s victory in the diving competition in Paris marked the first time a country had won a perfect eight gold medals in one Games. Considering Chinese diving’s youth, depth, and development trajectory, it’s possible that 2024 won’t be the last time it occurs.
China Has Raised the Record for the Most Olympic Diving Medals Ever Won
Thanks to Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen’s victory in the women’s 3m synchro final, the People’s Republic of China equaled the United States for the most Olympic gold medals in diving history on the first day of competition with 48. China has raised the record for the most Olympic diving golds to 55 after the Olympics.
8 significant
Mexicans Almost Beat Chinese in the Men’s 3m Synchro
Mexico was just over 2.1 points away from ending China’s record of winning all the gold medals in the Paris diving competition. With one dive remaining, Juan Manuel Celaya Hernandez and Osmar Olvera Ibarra led the field after the fourth of six dives. They were only 1.1 points behind China’s Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan. China dared not attempt the hardest dive, which Mexico had prepared for last: a forward 2½ with three twists (with 3.9 DD). Although it received high marks, Mexico’s six-round total was 2.07 points short of tying China for first place.
China Wins a 10-Peat at the Olympics in the Women’s 3m Springboard
Chen Yiwen increased China’s lead in the women’s 3m springboard division on the penultimate day of the Olympic diving competition in Paris. Her win gave the nation a 10-peat, meaning that no other country had won gold in the competition since 1980. Although it’s remarkable, this Olympic run in individual diving isn’t the longest. From 1920 to 1968, the US won the men’s 3m gold medal 11 times in a row. In the pole vault, American men even achieved a 16-peat (1896–1968).
Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Historical Firsts
Jo Jin-Mi and Kim Mi-Rae won silver in the women’s 10m synchro early in the Games, giving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea its first-ever Olympic diving medal. Kim won bronze in the women’s 10m final six days later, marking North Korea’s first individual diving medal at the Games.
In the men’s 10m platform final in Paris, seventeen-year-old super-talent Rikuto Tamai gave Japan its first-ever Olympic diving medal—a silver.
Tom Daley wins his fifth Olympic medal in his fifth Games.
Tom Daley, a 30-year-old diver from Great Britain, made history by being the first diver from his country to fly the national flag during the Opening Ceremony and by winning his fifth medal, a silver in the men’s 10m synchro. Daley and Matty Lee won gold in the event three years prior in Tokyo, 1.23 points ahead of China in the one Olympic diving competition that China did not win there. Daley and Noah Williams, his seventh synchro partner in five Games, didve consistently this time, but China increased their advantage with every round and finished 26.91 points clear of the British to win gold.
The lone diver performing double duty at 3 and 10 meters was Carson Tyler.
The only diver in Paris to attempt the 3m and 10m double was 20-year-old American Carson Tyler. Tyler finished 19th in the preliminary round of the men’s 10m platform competition the day after placing fourth in the men’s individual 3m springboard event. He was reduced to being a reserve athlete and could only move on if an athlete ahead of him withdrew from the 10m semifinals, as only the top 18 divers advanced to the semifinals. However, Tyler might not dive on both boards during the next Games in Paris. When asked whether he would attempt an Olympic double again, Tyler replied, “There’s a chance! Maybe!
In the Women’s 10m, it was Quan vs Chen once more.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion, Quan Hongchan, defeated her countrymate Chen Yuxi in a back-and-forth battle of adolescent giants to capture the gold medal in the women’s 10m platform event for the second time in a row. Quan, who now holds two silver medals in the race, was just 14 when she won the gold in Tokyo, and Chen was only 15 at the time. Following Tokyo, the two have placed first and second in every subsequent world championship. Chen won in 2022 and 2023, but Quan defeated Chen in the 2024 worlds in February, putting a stop to Chen’s hopes of completing a triple crown. Anticipate the fight to go on at the upcoming World Aquatics Championships in Singapore in 2025.
Olympic Diving Medal Table for Paris 2024
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