Called Up From Reserve Role, Pickens Secures Olympic Diving Quota Spot For USA

2021 FINA DIVING WORLD CUP – TOKYO

• May 1-6, 2021
• Tokyo Aquatics Center, Tokyo, Japan
• Final Olympic Qualifying Event
• Day 1 Recap (Men’s Synchro 10-Meter, Women’s Synchro 3-Meter)
• Day 2 Recap (Women’s Synchro 10-Meter, Men’s Synchro 3-Meter)
• Results

Day 3 of the FINA Diving World Cup qualified 36 more Olympic quota spots across two events – with some lineup drama for Team USA.

The top 12 finishers in semifinals of the 2019 World Championships in each individual event secured Olympic quota places for their nations. A set of continental competitions in 2019 also yielded one Olympic quota spot apiece. But up to 18 more quota spots are up for grabs in each individual event this week, with divers earning an Olympic quota spot for their federation, rather than individuals themselves qualifying.

Women’s 3-Meter Springboard

Perhaps most notable on the women’s side was Samantha Pickens, who was brought to this meet as only a reserve diver. But when Kassidy Cook was force to withdraw from the 3-meter event due to injury, Team USA called on Pickens to book an Olympic berth. She did just that, finishing sixth.

Her teammate Sarah Bacon was the top new Olympic qualifier, taking third behind China’s Yani Chang and Yiwen Chen out of prelims. In the semis, Chen topped all divers by a whopping 41 points, but Bacon moved up to second place. Canada’s Jennifer Abel was third.

The final will take place tomorrow, but the Olympic qualifiers are already locked in:

Women’s 3-Meter Springboard New Qualifiers (Awards go to nation, not athletes):

• Sarah Bacon (USA)
• Aranza Vazquez Montano (MEX)
• Samantha Pickens (USA)
• Anna Pysmenska (UKR)
• Haruka Enamoto (JPN)
• Emma Gullstrand (SWE)
• Michelle Heimberg (SUI)
• Scarlett Mew Jensen (GBR)
• Luana Lira (BRA)
• Julia Vincent (RSA)
• Kim Su-ji (KOR)
• Alena Khamulkina (BLR)
• Mariia Poliakova (ROC*)
• Diana Pineda (COL)
• Emilia Nilsson (SWE)
• Elizabeth Perez (VEN)
• Elena Bertocchi (ITA)
• Chiara Pellacani (ITA)

Previous Qualifiers (Awards go to nation, not athletes):

Via 2019 Worlds:

• Shi Tingmao (CHN)
• Maddison Keeney (AUS)
• Wang Han (CHN)
• Jennifer Abel (CAN)
• Tina Punzel (GER)
• Pamela Ware (CAN)
• Sayaka Mikami (JPN)
• Grace Reid (GBR)
• Viktoriya Kesar (UKR)
• Ng Yan Yee (MAS)
• Inge Jansen (NED)
• Esther Qin (AUS)

Via continental events:

• Dolores Hernandez (MEX) – 2019 Pan Ams
• Kristina Ilinykh (ROC*) – 2019 Euros
• Nur Dhabitah Sabri (MAS) – 2019 Asian Cup
• Elizabeth Cui (NZL) – 2019 Oceania Champs
• Micaela Bouter (RSA) – 2019 African Qualifier

*Russian athletes are qualified to represent the Olympic Athletes of Russia, rather than Russia itself.

Men’s 10-Meter Platform

In the men’s preliminaries, Great Britain’s Tom Daley led the way, winning by about 25 points. Daley has already qualified a quota spot to Tokyo for his nation, but the competition for the top 18 spots – which transfer into the semifinals – was fierce, with the top 18 earning Olympic quota spots outright, and a few more nations beyond 18 earning bids based on unfilled quota spots.

Mexico’s Randal Willars Valdez led the way with a second-place finish, booking an Olympic quota spot. In the semifinals, Russia’s Ruslan Ternovoi (also already qualified to Tokyo for the neutral Russian banner) took the top spot, outscoring Daley by about eight points.

The final will take place tomorrow alongside the women’s 3-meter final, but the Olympic berths for each nation are now locked in:

Men’s 10-Meter Platform New Qualifiers (Awards go to nation, not athletes):

• Randal Willars (MEX)
• Kwan Pereira (BRA)
• Rafael Quintero (PUR)
• Jaden Eikermann Gregorchuk (GER)
• Isaac Souza (BRA)
• Rylan Wiens (CAN)
• Kim Yeong-Taek (KOR)
• Matthieu Rosset (FRA)
• Sebastian Villa Castenada (COL)
• Rikuko Tamai (JPN)
• Timo Barthel (GER)
• Oscar Ariza (VEN)
• Reo Nishida (JPN)
• Alejandro Solarte (COL)
• Oleh Serbin (UKR)
• Andreas Sargent Larsen (ITA)
• Jonathan Ruvalcaba (DOM)
• Vartan Bayanduryan (ARM)

Previous Qualifiers (Awards go to nation, not athletes):

Via 2019 Worlds:

• Yang Jian (CHN)
• Yang Hao (CHN)
• Tom Daley (GBR)
• Woo Ha-ram (KOR)
• David Dinsmore (USA)
• Noah Williams (GBR)
• Oleksii Sereda (UKR)
• Benjamin Auffret (FRA)
• Brandon Loschiavo (USA)
• Aleksandr Bondar (ROC*)
• Vincent Riendeau (CAN)
• Cassiel Rousseau (AUS)

Via continental events:

• Kevin Berlin (MEX) – 2019 Pan Ams
• Ruslan Ternovoi (ROC*) – 2019 Euros
• Jonathan Chan (SGP) – 2019 Asian Cup
• Domonic Bedggood (AUS) – 2019 Oceania Champs
• Yousef Ezzat (EGY) – 2019 African Qualifier

*Russian athletes are qualified to represent the Olympic Athletes of Russia, rather than Russia itself.