By Joiner Martinez
02 Aug 2024, 16:46 PM EDT
Mexicans Osmar Olvera and Juan Manuel Celaya were crowned runners-up in synchronized diving from the 3-meter springboard at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Friday, challenging the Chinese empire in the discipline.
Despite a discreet start to the final, the Mexicans finished with 444.03 points, just 2.07 behind the big favourites, the Chinese Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan, at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
“They are not invincible (…) They are not coming alone, we are going to compete with them. We got ahead in the fourth round by a hair. I really think they trembled and, for me, we won,” said Osmar Olvera to the press, with a silver medal that tastes “like gold” to him.
The Aztecs’ progress increased as they chained together more difficult dives and even managed to snatch first place from the Chinese after the fourth, an inward jump with three and a half turns, with a difficulty of 3.4.
But Long and Wang, Olympic champion in this event in Tokyo-2020 together with Xie Siyi, confirmed their status as favourites by regaining the lead in the next dive and until the end of the competition.
Smiling after winning this “historic” first Olympic medal for Mexico in this event, the divers showed their medals to their numerous compatriots present in the pool and who cheered them on throughout the competition shouting “Mexico! Mexico!”
British pair Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher took the bronze medal with 438.15 points. Spanish pair Adrian Abadia and Nicolas Garcia finished fifth (361.62).
The diving team, which has brought Mexico the most Olympic medals, arrived in Paris-2024 with important assets to storm the podium, such as Olvera, champion of the 1 m springboard at the last World Championships in Doha.
After the silver medal, Olvera, 20, feels more “motivated” and “confident” for the individual 3-meter springboard event, the preliminary phase of which will take place on Tuesday, August 6.
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