China, the U.S. and Great Britain finished 1-2-3 in the final of the women’s synchro springboard diving competition Saturday in Paris.
Posted July 27, 2024 5:19 a.m. EDT
Updated July 27, 2024 12:01 p.m. EDT
By Cara Cooper
RESULTS
Just a few hours into the first day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, China, the United States, and Great Britain have their first medals.
The Chinese duo of Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen came to Paris as the three-time defending world champions in the women’s diving synchronized 3m springboard competition. They continued their run of dominance, scoring 337.68 points on the way to a gold medal, the first for each diver in their Olympic debuts.
Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook of the U.S. took silver with a total score of 314.64. It’s the first Olympic medals for both divers, and first American medal in the event since 2012.
“We were really consistent“, Cook said of the team’s day. „We were able to dive the way we train. It wasn’t our best performance, but we didn’t miss anything, so we’re really happy with how we did. To be able to walk away with a silver medal is freaking awesome.”
Australia was in third place heading into the final round, but on the final dive Australian diver Anabelle Smith came off the right side of the board, messing up the team’s synchronization and taking the Australians off the podium. The Great Britain team of Scarlett Mew Jensen and Yasmin Harper snuck in in the final round to take bronze with a final score of 302.28.
SEE MORE: U.S. divers Sarah Bacon, Kassidy Cook win silver in synchro
Chang and Chen were the heavy favorites coming into Paris, and asserted themselves at the top of the leaderboard early. Jumping first – dive order was determined by random draw – the Chinese team took a more than two point lead after the first dive, scoring 52.8 points.
According to Reuters, the crowd cheers in the stadium were so loud the Chinese duo almost couldn’t hear their cue to walk to the end of the board and perform their first dives.
„The spectators were cheering so loud that we missed it when they announced our first dive routine“, Chen told reporters after the event on Saturday.
