The first dive Tom Daley performed in the men's 10m platform preliminaries wasn't up to his usual standard, but the British star, who is also an avid knitter, was able to string together solid efforts in the later rounds to sail into the semifinals.
The top 18 competitors advanced, and Daley placed fourth despite scoring a 56.10 in Round 1. His dives in rounds four and six were some of his best work so far in Tokyo, and both earned him scores over 90. The four-time Olympian is looking for his first individual gold after winning his first-ever Olympic gold with partner Matty Lee in the men's synchronized 10m platform event.
Both Americans competing in the preliminary round booked their tickets to the semifinals, as Brandon Loschiavo and Jordan Windle finished in 11th and 15th, respectively. Windle needed to nail his final dive after earning sub-50 scores in rounds three and four, and the 22-year-old came up big with a 82.20 when the pressure was on.
Loschiavo kept his cool after a miss in Round 3 and comfortably qualified to the next day of competition.
Chinese divers Yang Jian and Cao Yuan took the top two spots while Canadian Rylan Wiens was one tenth shy of making the cut. His teammate, Nathan Zsombor-Murray, advanced in fifth.