Diving 2024 Paris Olympics Review

Men’s 3m Synchronised Springboard

Round one saw two pairs score over 50, led by Zongyuan/Daoyi (China) with Marsaglia/Tocci (Italy) in second. China extended their lead on the second dive, while Laugher/Harding (Great Britain) moved into second. A shaky third dive from the Chinese looked potentially costly but they still almost scored 80. It did allow the British pair to close in on them while a strong dive from Celaya/Olvera (Mexico) saw them go into third. A second 80+ score in round four brought them closer to the leading pair. China scored 85 in the fifth round, pushing them clear, while Mexico went ahead of Great Britain heading into the final round. China scored 95.76 to seal gold. A 94.62 from Britain really put the pressure on Mexico heading into their final dive. A dive of 94.77 would seal the silver for the Mexicans. 

🥇Wang Zongyuan/Long Daoyi 🇨🇳

🥈Juan Celaya/Osmar Olvera 🇲🇽

🥉Jack Laugher/Anthony Harding 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

I questioned the consistency of the Mexican team but they produced when it mattered 

Men’s 3m Springboard

The qualifying and the semi-final rounds both saw the same top three as Wang Zongyuan (China) led Xie Siyi (China) and Jack Laugher (Great Britain). Siyi led the final after the opening round from Zongyuan and Osmar Olvera (Mexico). The second dive saw Zongyuan move ahead while Olvera went into second ahead of Siyi. Poor third dives from Olvera and Laugher saw the Chinese pair open a commanding lead. After four dives, Zongyuan led by 3.3 points with Olvera trailing Siyi by over 45 points. Siyi posted 88.80 with his fifth dive and Zongyuan faltered, only scoring 70.20. A 93.6 was the exclamation mark on the bronze medal for Olvera. Siyi secured gold with a spectacular 100.70 final dive.

🥇Xie Siyi 🇨🇳

🥈Wang Zongyuan 🇨🇳

🥉Osmar Olvera 🇲🇽

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 3 perfect prediction 

I got it right with the upset of Siyi over Zongyuan

Men’s 10m Synchronised Platform

In the opening round, Junjie/Hao (China) took the lead with 56.4 ahead of Daley/Williams (Great Britain) and Zsombor-Murray/Wiens (Canada) tied on 53.4. From there, the Chinese pair steadily extended their advantage. Berlin/Willars (Mexico) broke the 80-point barrier in round three, followed by the British pair. Despite a late lineup change, Sereda/Boliukh (Ukraine) struggled to keep pace. In round four, the Brits were the first team to hit 90, only for China to respond with a higher score. As the two maintained consistency China held a clear lead with Britain in clear silver medal position. In the battle for bronze, the Canadians scored 79.68 putting them in a strong position. The Mexicans scored 85.32 but it was not quite enough. The Chinese would then put an exclamation mark on gold, totalling 490.35. 

🥇Lian Junjie/Yang Hao 🇨🇳

🥈Tom Daley/Noah Williams 🇬🇧

🥉Nathan Zsombor-Murray/Rylan Wiens 🇨🇦 

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction 

The bronze always felt like the toughest prediction and I went for Mexico instead of Canada

Men’s 10m Platform 

Cao Yuan (China) led the preliminary and semi final rounds, being the only diver to score over 500. Rikuto Tamai (Japan) was second in the preliminary round, while it was Yang Hao (China) in the semi final. In the final, Yuan led after the opening round from Tamai. Tamai edged ahead by 0.1 after the second dive. Yuan would go back into first in the third round with Rylan Wiens (Canada) was third place at halfway. Randal Willard Valdez (Mexico) went into third with his fourth dive. A costly 39.10 dive in the fifth round sent Tamai backwards. Noah Williams (Great Britain) scored 187.85 over his last two dives to get into a position  to challenge for a medal. Tamai would go ahead with a brilliant final dive and it was down to Yuan to dive last. He secured gold with an 86.40, highlighting his consistency.

🥇Cao Yuan 🇨🇳

🥈Rikuto Tamai 🇯🇵

🥉Noah Williams 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 1 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

I thought one of the Chinese pair would struggle but go the wrong one. Rousseau never looked competitive and I very quickly regretted not putting Tamai in the medal positions. 

Women’s 3m Synchronised Springboard

As expected, China dominated, totalling a massive 337.68. Yiwen/Yang (China) took the lead in the opening round and never looked back. After two dives, Cook/Bacon (United States) held second, with Harper/Mew Jensen (Great Britain) and Muller/Hentschel (Germany) tied in third. The middle dives saw Keeney/Smith (Australia) surge into third, with two scores over 70. It came down to the final dive with Australia less than a point behind the United States whilst the British pair were hoping for a miracle. It came, as the Aussie pair faltered, with Smith slipping on the board and the pair were only given 48. A heartbroken Smith watched as the British pair dived into a bronze medal.

🥇Chen Yiwen/Chang Yani 🇨🇳

🥈Kassidy Cook/Sarah Bacon 🇺🇸

🥉Yasmin Harper/Scarlett Mew Jensen 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

Heading into the final round, I thought this was going to be a clean sweep only for the Australian pair to slip up in the final round. 

Women’s 3m Springboard

Chen Yiwen (China) dominated both the preliminary and semi-final rounds, with compatriot Chang Yani (China) fourth. Maddison Keeney (Australia) was second in both rounds. Yani opened poorly, allowing Yiwen to lead Keeney. The positions held in round two with Nur Dhabitah Sabri (Malaysia) in third. After three rounds, Yiwen led Keeney by over 30 points, whilst Julia Vincent (South Africa) was in fourth. Yani recovered with a strong fourth dive to reclaim third, behind the top two.

🥇Chen Yiwen 🇨🇳

🥈Maddison Keeney 🇦🇺

🥉Chang Yani 🇨🇳

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

I called Keeney the most consistent of the possible medalists but she was brilliant in taking silver 

Women’s 10m Synchronised Platform

Yuxi/Hongchan (China) took control from the start, leading by over five points after one dive. It was nearly 14 points after the second round of dives, making the real battle for silver, which was headed at that point by Spendolini-Sirieix/Toulson (Great Britain). A poor third dive from the Brits, saw them passed for the medals, whilst China extended their advantage with an 80 point dive. McKay/Miller (Canada) moved into second with the Brits dropping back to fifth, although they were separated by just 5.4 points. On the fourth dive, it was Mi-Rae/Mi-jo (North Korea) who went into second ahead of Canada and Britain. They were first up in the final round, scoring 77.76 to put pressure on the other teams. The Chinese team finished with another great dive to end on 359.10. First up of the medal contenders were North Korea and they would seal a podium place, also with a 77.76. Canada fell short, leaving Britain with the bronze.

🥇Chen Yuxi/Qian Hongchan 🇨🇳

🥈Kim Mi-rae/Jin Mi-jo 🇰🇵

🥉Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix/Lois Toulson 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 3 perfect prediction 

I felt quite good about this, even with the suggestion that the North Koreans could trouble China. One slip would have probably won them the gold. 

Women’s 10m Platform

Quan Hongchan (China) was the only diver with a score over 400 in the preliminaries. She was joined by compatriot Chen Yuxi (China) in the semi final. In the opening round of the final, Hongchan went clear of Yuxi with Kim Mi-Rae (North Korea) in third. The positions remained that way after the second dive. Hongchan third dive - her weakest - only scored 76.70 leaving her just 1.6 ahead of teammate. Mi-Rae remained third, separated from the next five divers by less than 17 points. A 92.4 would extend the advantage for Hongchan in round four. The positions remained the same in round five with Hongchan winning an incredible gold.

🥇Quan Hongchan 🇨🇳

🥈Chen Yuxi 🇨🇳

🥉Kim Mi-Rae 🇰🇵

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 0 perfect prediction 

I was the wrong way round with the Chinese pair. Spendolini-Sirieix looked like a medalist prior to the final but didn’t perform to her best. I mentioned Mi-rae as a consistent performer.