China claimed two more gold medals in diving on Sunday: in men’s 1m and women’s synchro 10m. In addition, China, Great Britain and the USA all earned their country Paris 2024 Olympic berths in the women’s synchro 10m.
In the men’s 1m final, Peng Jianfeng and his teammate Zheng Jiuyuan of China took gold and bronze, respectively, separated by 19-year-old Olympian Osmar Olvera Ibarra of Mexico.
The women’s synchro 10m event served as an Olympic qualifier in which Chinese mega-stars Chen Yuxi, and Quan Hongchan received 11 perfect scores en route to a decisive defense of their 2022 world title. Great Britain and the US also earned Olympic berths for Paris 2024 by finishing in the top-3 in that event
Read on for details and the medalists’ reactions.
Men’s 1m
Behind China’s gold- and bronze-medal performances in the men’s 1m final on Sunday, the real story of the day, perhaps, was that Mexico took second and fourth place, led by silver medalist Osmar Olvera Ibarra, who threw one of the hardest dives in the contest: a 3.6 DD forward 2½ with 2 twists as the penultimate diver in the last round. Olvera Ibarra scored 81.00 points for the dive which put a bit of pressure on the 2017 world champion Peng Jianfeng of China to stay focused, despite Peng’s 14.40-point lead going into his last dive.
In the end, Peng prevailed to claim his third world championship medal on 1m, adding to his 2017 gold and 2019 bronze. Peng’s 440.45-point victory also gave China its ninth consecutive gold medal in men’s 1m. China hasn’t lost this event at a world championship since 2005.
“I am very excited to get the gold medal; it is my honour…but I am getting old, ability declines,” said Peng, 28, who shared the podium with two 19-year-olds. “I have to make more effort than younger divers to compete with them.” Peng then vowed to practice more so he could claim another medal at the Asian Games in two months, explaining that the “current China team is the dream team so we cannot embarrass ourselves.”
Olvera Ibarra’s silver medal gave Mexico its third diving medal in Fukuoka.
“I felt good and confident after completing my final dive,” Olvera Ibarra said, “I had no doubt that I would stand on the podium.”
Zheng Jiuyuan of China finished third, 12.05 points ahead of Mexico’s Juan Manuel Celaya Hernandez who never gave up and managed to finish fourth after sitting in 10th place (of 12 divers) at the midpoint of the contest.
“I am very happy to be the bronze medalist,” Zheng said, “but not completely happy with my performance. I was very nervous but the excitement was greater. It was a great opportunity to express myself.”
Also of note: the former two-time 1m world champion for China, Li Shixin, 35, represented Australia and was unable to match his third place from the 2022 World Championships, placing fifth instead.
Women’s Synchro 10m
Seventeen-year-old Chen Yuxi and 16-year-old Quan Hongchan defended their 2022 world title in women’s synchro 10m on Sunday to give China a 12-peat in this event. China’s hot streak dates back to 2001, the last time Fukuoka, Japan, hosted the World Aquatics Championships.
Quan, whose career now includes three world titles and Olympic gold at 16 said, “Expectation does not give me pressure; it gives me motivation.”
“Expectation does not give me pressure; it gives me motivation.”
Great Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix, 18, and Lois Toulson, 23, clung firmly onto second place all night and claimed the silver medal, albeit 58.08 points behind China.
“We are over the moon,” said Spendolini Sirieix, “especially considering that we are coming into this event with very limited training. We have been giving it our all at each stage. We are very proud of ourselves.”
The comeback of the night belonged to the 2020 US Olympic silver medalists Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell.
The Americans crept up from 10th place after their second dive, to seventh, to fifth, and ultimately captured third place on their final dive, bumping Mexico’s 2020 Olympic bronze medalists, Gabriela Agundez Garcia and Alejandra Orozco Loza, into fourth position by 4.80 points.
The top three nations all qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“Definitely some of the best diving I have done all year,” Parratto said afterwards. “To fight back from our second dive was really special, just to know that we’re able to do that.”
An emotional Schnell added, “I don’t normally get very emotional over this kind of stuff,” explaining that the fight to the podium “made this medal is so much more special.”
Also, to earn the United States an Olympic berth in Paris on the first try, Schnell said, “takes a lot of pressure off me and Jessica and other synchro pairs for the United States.”
The US will hold an Olympic Trials closer to the Games to determine which athletes will compete in Paris. In other words, these World Aquatics Championships qualify the divers’ nation, not necessarily the individual.
Looking ahead to Day 3
Two more gold medals are at stake on Monday: in women’s synchro 3m springboard and men’s synchro 10m platform. The latter will feature two-time high-diving world champion Gary Hunt of Great Britain who now represents France and normally competes on a tower nearly three times the height.