China Continues Men’s 3m Synchronised Diving Dominance at 2022 Worlds

2022 World Aquatics Championships

• Budapest, Hungary
• Diving: June 26-July 3
• Meet Central
• Schedule
• Results

Men’s 3m Synchronised Final

1. China (Cao Yuan and Wang Zongyuan), 459.18 
2. Great Britain (Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher), 451.71
3. Germany (Timo Barthel and Lars Rudiger), 406.44
4. Switzerland (Jonathan Suckow and Guillaume Dutoit), 376.05
5. France (Jules Bouyer and Alexis Jandard), 375.54
6. Italy (Giovanni Tocci and Lorenzo Marsaglia), 372.33
7. Colombia (Luis Felipe Uribe Bermudez and Sebastian Morales Mendoza), 364.62
8. Mexico (Yolotl Otniel and Diego Garcia de la Fuente), 363.21
9. Ukraine (Oleksandr Horshkovozov and Oleg Kolodiy), 362.43
10. Spain (Adrian Abadia and Nicolas Garcia Boissier), 354.60
11. Malaysia (Yiwei Chew and Tze Liang Ooi), 337.83
12. New Zealand (Liam Stone and Frazer Tavener), 322.11

In the first diving final Sunday at the 2022 World Championships, defending men’s 3m synchronised champion Cao Yuan teamed up with defending Olympic champ Wang Zongyuan to deliver China its 10th gold medal in the event. 

Only twice in the 24-year history of the event has China not topped the podium, and each time they finished runner-up to the Russians (who aren’t competing due to the war in Ukraine). 

The 27-year-old Yuan secured his third World title since 2015 — each time coming with a new partner — while stretching his streak to four medals in a row in the event and seven overall at Worlds. For the 20-year-old Zongyuan, it was his first World title in the event and second overall after winning the 1m springboard in 2019. The powerhouse pair joined forces in December of 2021. 

Great Britain threatened China’s reign when the duo of Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher saving its best dives for last (a forward 4½ and a forward triple twisting 2½), outscoring China over the final two dives, 188.13 to 170.10.

It wasn’t enough to erase a late 25.5-point deficit after four dives, though, as China held off the surging Great Britain squad, 459.18 to 451.71. The silver medal was Laugher’s second in a row while his teammate, Harding, was competing in his first major international meet. Germany’s Timo Barthel and Lars Rudiger rounded out the podium with 406.44 points for a bronze medal.

“It’s a pity about the last dive,” Yuan said. “We will be better in the future.”

The Chinese dominance isn’t expected to stop anytime soon as they boasted the top two qualifiers in the women’s 10m platform on Monday. 16-year-old Yuxi Chen led the way with 427 points while 15-year-old Hongchan Quan wasn’t far behind with 413.70. 23-year-old Canadian Caeli McKay qualified third.