In a tough morning for American divers Alison Gibson and Sarah Bacon, neither made it into the top 18 to advance out of the preliminary round of the women’s 3m springboard competition.
Gibson’s day started off bad. On her first dive her feet hit the board and she couldn’t fully rotate. She failed to go in the water head first, which was scored a no-dive and received zero points. The two-time Olympian tried to battle back, but never got out of the 20s in the standings. Her final dive received just 22.20 points, and she finished 28th.
Bacon was also playing catch-up all day to try to get into the top 18 to move on. Her first dive scored 64.5, but none of the other scored better than 60. Needing 8s from all judges to move up in the standings, her final dive landed past vertical and only scored 52.4. She finished 19th, eight points away from moving on.
It wasn’t just American divers who struggled. The biggest surprise was China’s Chang Yani, a 22-year-old making her Olympic debut. Chang already won gold in Paris in the women’s synchro springboard, and came into the prelims as the defending world champion.
On Wednesday, a mistake on Chang’s second dive scored just 38.75 and dropped her from second to fourth. She finished the day with a score of 308.75 and in fourth place, 13 points behind third-place finisher Aranza Vazquez, of Mexico.
Chang’s teammate Chen Yiwen – who was her partner in the synchro finals – finished the day first with a score of 356.40.
Australia’s Maddison Keeney finished second, and is the first diver in Paris to overtake any Chinese diver at the top of the standings. Her final dive was the highest scoring of anyone on the day, scoring 81.60. She finished 19 points out of first.
The top 18 divers who are moving on are listed below.
The springboard semifinals will be held at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Top 18 finishers
1. Chen Yiwen (China) 356.40
2. Maddison Keeney (Australia) 337.35
3. Aranza Vazquez (Mexico) 321.75
4. Chang Yani (China) 308.75
5. Grace Reid (Great Britain) 303.25
6. Haruka Enomoto (Japan) 299.10
7. Valeria Antolino (Spain) 297.70
7. Chiara Pellacani (Italy) 297.70
9. Yasmin Harper (Great Britain) 295.20
10. Emilia Nisson Garip (Sweden)
11. Kim Suji (South Korea)
12. Nur Dhabitah Sabri (Malaysia)
13. Julia Vincent (South Africa)
14. Elena Bertocchi (Italy)
15. Saskia Oettinghaus(Germany)
16. Alysha Koloi (Australia)
17. Alejandra Estudillo Torres (Mexico)
18. Tuti Garcia (Cuba)