Olympics Diving results, August 10: Great Britain shocks China
By Brad Weiss
The men took to the springboard for the 3m Synchronized Springboard Final, and for once, China did not take the gold.
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MEDAL RESULT | Men's 3m Synchronized Springboard Final
As expected, China won a medal in the Men’s 3m Synchronized Springboard Final, though it was not the medal most expected. Great Britain came out of nowhere to upset the Chinese tandem of Qin Kai and Cao Yuan, taking the gold medal with a score of 454.32.
Coming into the event, it appeared that Russia would have the only duo that could come close to the Chinese team. However, Great Britain’s team of Chris Mears and Jack Laugher were the most consistent divers of the event, and in the end, took the gold. The United States tandem of Sam Dorman and Michael Hixon were incredible on Wednesday, sneaking past the Chinese team and into second place for the silver.
For Kai, it was only his second loss in his past ten major international competitions in this event, but this one will definitely sting. He won the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics with then-partner Luo Yutong, but a repeat just was not in the cards on Wednesday. The Chinese team finished with the bronze medal.
The 3m springboard was the last synchronized event of this year’s Olympics, as divers now turn to the individual competition. All divers will be off on Thursday, but the action heats right back up on Friday with the preliminaries. Expect the Chinese team to rebound and capture a few medals in the individual competition.