Olympics diving results, August 20: China’s Chen Aisen wins the gold
By Brad Weiss
The final diving event of the 2016 Rio Olympics took place on Saturday, as the men competed in the Men’s 10m platform competition.
The 2016 Rio Olympics diving schedule is finished, as the men competed in the final event on Saturday. The men participated in the semifinal and final round of the Men’s 10m platform, and just like nearly every diving event this Summer, China took the gold. The field started with 18 divers in the semis, but only 12 made it to the finals.
In the semifinals, both Chinese divers were amazing, finishing first and second in points. Chen Aisen tallied 559.90 points, while Qiu Bo collected 504.70. They were the only divers in the semifinals to rack up more than 500.00 points.
David Boudia, the United States diver who took gold in this event during the 2012 London Olympics, finished tenth of the 18 semifinalists, clinching his spot in the finals. Boudia was looking to at least bring home one gold medal in diving for the United States, but he had a tall order on Saturday.
MEDAL RESULT | Men's 10m Platform
In the final round, Aisen got the party started early, posting a score of 96.90 on his first dive. Bo responded, tallying 94.50 to put the Chinese duo at the top of the leaderboard. Boudia notched an 88.20 on his first dive, and he would be consistent all day long.
During their fifth dives, Boudia and Aisen both nailed it, with each diver scoring over 100.00 points. Mexico’s German Sanchez also was magnificent, posting a score of 95.20. He would be in contention all finals long.
Going into the final dive, Aisen had a 21 point lead over Boudia, and appeared to be ready to take home another gold for China.
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On their final dives, Boudia falters, scoring only 68.45 points, which was by far his lowest total of the day. It was a crushing blow to the reigning gold medalist. Sanchez registered his third consecutive dive of over 90.00 points, taking the lead before Aisen’s dive. Aisen needed only 66 points to win the gold, and he did just that, posting a final-high score of 108.00.
The gold medal was Aisen’s second in Rio, as he also won gold in the Men’s 10m synchronized platform. Sanchez finished with the silver medal, and Boudia won the bronze.