Diving 2016 Rio Olympic Review

Men’s 3m Springboard

A couple of shocks happened early as neither 2012 Champion Ilya Zakharov (Russia) nor 2015 World Champion He Chao (China) qualified for the final. Instead, compatriot Cao Yuan (China) led Rommel Pacheco (Mexico) in both qualification rounds. Yuan went on to dominate the final, leading after every single dive. Pacheco struggled, making mistakes in his first two dives putting him out of medal contention. Jack Laugher (Great Britain) put a great series of dives to win silver, whilst Patrick Hausding (Germany) improved on his 2012 fourth to get bronze.

🥇Cao Yuan 🇨🇳

🥈Jack Laugher 🇬🇧

🥉Patrick Hausding 🇩🇪

Men’s 10m Platform

Tom Daley (Great Britain) led after the first round of qualification but struggled in round two and was eliminated. That left Chen Aisen (China) and Qiu Bo (China) atop the leaderboard. Bo would falter in the final on dives two and four, leaving Aisen to grab gold. David Boudia (United States) was a long way ahead of German Sánchez (Mexico) heading into the final round, but a lacklustre dive saw him fall to third.

🥇Chen Aisen 🇨🇳

🥈Germán Sánchez 🇲🇽

🥉David Boudia 🇺🇸

Men’s Synchronised 3m Springboard

This was the only diving event where the Chinese did not win the gold. Yuan/Kai (China) led early, but the pair of Mears/Laugher (Great Britain) took the lead at the end of round three and never relinquished it. Hixon/Dorman (United States) threatened to challenge when scoring the highest total in round six, but it was not enough to move into first, instead giving them the silver.

🥇Chris Mears/Jack Laugher 🇬🇧

🥈Sam Dorman/Michael Hixon 🇺🇸

🥉Cao Yuan/Qin Kai 🇨🇳

Men’s Synchronised 10m Platform

Aisen/Yue (China) were once again dominant, leading throughout the competition and landing bigger dives than any other pair managed. The battle came for the other medals. Boudia/Johnson (United States) always had the upper hand for silver and a huge final dive sealed it. Daley/Goodfellow (Great Britain) trailed Hausding/Klein (Germany) and Garcia/Sanchez (Mexico) heading into round four but held their nerve to seal bronze.

🥇Chen Aisen/Lin Yue 🇨🇳

🥈David Boudia/Steele Johnson 🇺🇸

🥉Tom Daley/Daniel Goodfellow 🇬🇧

Women’s 3m Springboard

It looked like being a battle between the Chinese pair throughout the competition, with Jennifer Abel (Canada) the only one capable of potentially challenging. Instead, she faltered and the bronze was snatched from her after a huge dive from Tania Cagnotto (Italy). The two Chinese athletes were the model of consistency with no dive below 74 and five total dives off exactly 81.

🥇Shi Tingmao 🇨🇳

🥈He Zi 🇨🇳

🥉Tania Cagnotto 🇮🇹

Women’s 10m Platform

Once again, the Chinese were dominant. Si Yajie (China) led after both qualification rounds, but it was Ren Qian (China) who won with a great final stretch of dives. Jessica Parratto (United States) looked like challenging in qualification, but her lowest total of the week came in the final. Melissa Wu (Australia) also impressed in qualification but in the final, Meaghan Benfeito (Canada) started strong and never looked back.

🥇Ren Qian 🇨🇳

🥈Si Yajie 🇨🇳

🥉Meaghan Benfeito 🇨🇦

Women’s Synchronised 3m Springboard

Once again, the Chinese dominance was clear. For every single dive, they outscored all their opponents on that dive. Cagnotto/Dallape (Italy) pulled away from their opponents to win silver. The battle came between third and sixth with four pairs separated by 6.5 points. A final dive scoring 71.1 sealed bronze for Keeney/Smith (Australia)

🥇Shi Tingmao/Wu Minxia 🇨🇳

🥈Tania Cagnotto/Francesca Dallapé 🇮🇹

🥉Maddison Keeney/Anabelle Smith 🇦🇺

Women’s Synchronised 10m Platform

Once again, China stayed comfortably on top, winning by ten points. Kuk-hyang/Mi Rae (North Korea) and Couch/Toulson (Great Britain) kept close to Hoong/Rinong (Malaysia) and Benfeito/Filion (Canada) but the latter pairs pulled away with strong final dives to win the medals.

🥇Chen Ruolin/Liu Huixia 🇨🇳

🥈Cheong Jun Hoong/Pandelela Rinong 🇲🇾

🥉Meaghan Benfeito/Roseline Filion 🇨🇦