DOHA, Qatar – Wednesday’s diving drama ended with a two-time world champion from China toppling another two-time world champion from China in the men’s 3m springboard event. Wang Zonguan defeated Xie Siyi to give China its sixth gold medal of the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024. Nineteen-year-old Osmar Olvera Ibarra of Mexico took the bronze after placing second to Wang last year.

Earlier, in the women’s 3m synchro event, Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen scored a three-peat of their own, ahead of Australia’s Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith (silver) and Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen of Great Britain (bronze).

Here’s how it unfolded:

Women’s 3m synchro

In the afternoon,  Chang 22, and Chen, 24, won their third consecutive gold medal together in women’s 3m synchro, topping the field with 323.43 points. (Chang also won this event in 2017, at age 15, with a different partner.) The  victory gave China a 13-peat in the event, a streak that began in 2001. Chang and Chen’s victory also marked China’s fifth gold medal in Doha.

Somewhat uncharacteristically, Chang and Chen didn’t earn the highest score in each of the five rounds. Their simple reverse pike in the second round (where the degree of difficulty is capped at 2.0) was the third-best of the 18 teams (behind Great Britain and Germany). But the difference was minor and Chang and Chen never let go of the overall lead.

The gold, Chen said, “definitely gives us a lot of confidence [but] we still have much work to do.” She added that the absence of a semifinal round was “a little different. A final with almost 20 teams…is a long-long competition, but we found our way to do our best. You try to think good things [and] just be chill about everything!”

Australia’s Keeney, 27, and Smith, 31, claimed silver with 300.45 points – an upgrade from their 2022 bronze. After 10 years of diving together, Smith said, “We are really happy. Our hard work is really paying off.”

Last year’s silver medalists Great Britain’s Harper and Mew Jensen took third this time, with 281.70 points.

“We went into it with high expectations knowing we could win a medal,” Mew Jensen said. “We tried to stay calm” – especially since they could only watch as the US pair threw the toughest dive of the competition in the last round. It was the last chance for Alison Gibson and Krysta Palmer to close a 5.88-point gap behind Great Britain, but the Americans’ synchronization was a bit off in their forward 2½ with 2 twists so, regardless of the dive’s 3.4 degree of difficulty, the US placed fourth, 2.40 points off the podium. 

Men’s 3m

In the men’s 3m final, the two double world champions from China were locked in first and second position all night. Ultimately, Wang clinched a three-peat by defeating his older teammate Xie, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and 2017 and 2019 world champion. Wang thus kept China undefeated in this event since 2007.

Wang accumulated 538.70 points for the victory (including 100.70 points for his final dive, a forward 4½). Xie scored 516.10 to take silver. Mexico’s Olvera Ibarra took the bronze with 498.40.  (In 2023, Olvera Ibarra was the 3m silver medalist behind Wang.)

“First and foremost, I would like to congratulate myself,” Wang said, before thanking his coach, friends, and family. “Winning thrice in a row is a great achievement. The return of Xie has been a great motivation for me.”

Silver medalist Xie explained that “after Tokyo, I didn’t compete in any big events for two years, so I’m happy to be back. I need work on keeping myself calm when I’m on the diving board. I’m planning to take it step by step and adjust myself and my physique to the best of my ability. I love this sport and diving is what I’ve done all my life, therefore I had to come back.”

Olvera Ibarra’s bronze gave Mexico it’s fourth world championship medal in Doha. He also won the (non-Olympic) 1m gold on Day 2.

“It’s great to be on the winners’ podium once more and to leave these World Championships with two medals, just as I did in Fukuoka,” Olvera Ibarra said. “There are details to be polished, of course. I wanted – and I still want – more. I have to make my scores higher and turn the 8s into 9s.”

“I’m now done competing in Doha and it’s time to root for my compatriots,” he added. “There are three diving events ahead of us [where] I believe we can get medals, so that we could set a new record-breaking tally with a total of seven.” Last year, Mexico earned six medals, its best diving performance at a single world championships.

Notably absent from the men’s 3m final was Great Britain’s Jack Laugher, the three-time world championship bronze medalist in 3m. In prelims, Laugher missed his fourth dive, a forward 2½ with three twists pike (3.9 DD). The problem was that his feet were half of the board when he took off, so he got more distance than height and landed mid-flip, scoring zero points.

Next

The lone final at Hamad Aquatic Center on Thursday will be men’s 10m synchro. China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao will try to win their third gold medal in three years, but also keep an eye on the young Ukrainian duo Kirill Boliukh, 16, and Oleksii Sereda, 18, who took silver in 2023.

Another key player will be Australia’s Cassiel Rousseau, the 2023 world champion in 10m. He opted not to defend his individual title in Doha, so Thursday’s 10m synchro event will be his final bid for glory here after claiming bronze in the mixed team event on Day 1. Rousseau will be paired with Domonic Bedggood.

Also of note: Tokyo Olympic gold medalist in men’s 10m synchro Tom Daley, 29, of Great Britain will team with Noah Williams in his highly-anticipated 2024 Olympic comeback bid.