The saying goes, "it's not how you start, it's how you finish." But when you start a diving competition with perfect 10s from all seven judges on your first jump, a lead like that is hard for any competitor to catch.
China's Quan Hongchan made a massive statement with no splash on her first dive of Tuesday's women's 10m platform diving finals. The perfect forward 3 1/2 received a score for 90.0 points after accounting for degree of difficulty.
From there, it seemed that Quan's only competition was her own teammate, Chen Yuxi. The two tussled for gold and silver as the rest of the competitors battled for bronze.
Chen stayed within gold-medal distance of her teammate, but a final dive score of 92.4 gave Quan the gold by 4.9 points.
Tuesday’s biggest drama came in the rivalry between Quan and Chen, who won gold together in the synchronized platform finals in Paris last week.
Quan, just 17 years old, came to Paris as the defending Olympic gold medalist. In those Games, as a 14-year-old, she bested Chen, who finished second as a 15-year-old. Ever since, the two have gone back-and-forth for world championship gold. Chen won in 2022 and 2023, and Quan was back on top earlier this year.
Chen's first dive on Tuesday in Paris scored a not-so-miniscule 82.50.
The slight imperfections by Quan showed in her second and third dives. Chen's third jump — an armstand with three somersaults — scored 89.10, and she was just 1.6 points out of first with two dives remaining.
As the rest of the field tried to score higher than the 70s, Quan and Chen battled each other for who could get over than 90-point bar. Chen's fourth dive, a back 3 ½ somersaults, came oh-so-close, scoring 89.10. Quan responded with her own back 3 1/2, splashing less on her entry than her perfect first dive. She was rewarded with a 92.40 and went into the final dive with a five-point lead over her teammate.
On the final dive, Chen performed a back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists, and scored 81.60, meaning Quan needed just 76 points for the win.
She did five points better. Doing the same dive, Quan received the same score as her teammate, and finished with a gold medal win by 4.9 points.
North Korea’s Kim Mi Rae won the battle for bronze with a final score of 372.10, 7.6 points better than fourth place finisher Caeli McKay, of Canada. It’s Kim’s second medal of these Olympics. She also won silver in the synchro platform.
China’s divers led throughout all three rounds of the platform competition. Tuesday’s competitors were the top 12 after Monday's semifinals.
Quan has made a huge splash on the diving world with her ability to enter the water from height with seemingly no splash at all. Coaches and fans were so in awe of her ability that they couldn’t describe it with words, so they created a new one. The Mandarin Chinese phrase is pronounced “shui hua xiao shi shu,” and translates to "water splash disappearance technique.”
She may enter the water with minimal splash, but at 17, Quan's ripple effect on the diving world is making waves. Tuesday was just the fifth time a woman has won back-to-back gold medals in the platform event. The teenager now leaves Paris a three-time Olympic gold medalist.
With the win, China is now 5-for-5 with golds in every Paris diving event. With three events remaining, they remain in play to be the first country to ever sweep all eight events at a single Olympics.
Finals results
- Quan Hongchan (China) 425.60
- Chen Yuxi (China) 420.70
- Kim Mi Rae (North Korea) 372.10
- Caeli McKay (Canada) 364.50
- Gabriela Agundez (Mexico) 350.40
- Andrea Spendolini-Sireix (Great Britain) 345.50
- Ellie Cole (Australia) 333.30
- Alejandra Orozco (Mexico) 320.60
- Matsuri Arai (Japan) 314.45
- Sarah Jodoin-Di Maria (Italy) 301.75
- Melissa Wu (Australia) 278.30
- Else Praasterink (Netherlands) 250.35