This is a collaboration between Brittney Cabral and Krissy Draper
Men’s Synchronised 10m Platform
The men’s diving competition started on day two of the event. The wonder of the event is whether Great Britain’s Tom Daley, who is competing in his fourth Olympics, would finally win that elusive gold medal. He had placed third in the last two Olympics. Daley and his new partner Matty Lee placed third again in the last world championships back in 2019.
The Chinese looked very strong in their first three dives, maintaining their first place lead going to the fourth of six dives. They performed a lower ranking dive on their fourth attempt which opened the door for the Brits to push ahead. Daley and Lee performed the highest ranked dive in that round and nailed it with the highest points in the round, 93.96. The Brits and the Chinese then went blow for blow competing for the first and second highest ranked dives in the subsequent round. But that small window left open by the Chinese in the fourth round allowed the Brits to take the gold medal.
Daley finally won his gold medal after participating in the Olympics for the last 13 years. During those years, Tom Daley has gone through a lot in those 13 years. He came out as gay on his YouTube channel in 2013 after the London Olympics. He said that he had been in a relationship with a man since early that year and mentioned that “I’ve never been happier”. During the post-medal ceremony interview, he said that “I feel incredibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion.”
The Canadian duo of Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Vincent Riendeau were also participating in the men’s synchro 10m platform event. They flirted with a podium position at the early stages of the event but a low scoring two rounds placed them in fifth. Both divers remarked that they were confident in their performance and that they can challenge for a medal in the future.
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