China’s Shi Tingmao Defends Women’s 3m Springboard Olympic Title

TOKYO 2020 SUMMER OLYMPICS – DIVING

Shi Tingmao successfully defended her Olympic diving title in the women’s 3-meter springboard event on Sunday in Tokyo, putting a whopping 383.50 points on the board.

Shi’s victory marks the second straight Olympics in which she won gold in both the individual 3m springboard and the synchronized 3m springboard event. She has also won the 3m springboard at the last three World Championships.

Shi’s partner in that synchro victory, Wang Han, was the runner-up, scoring 348.75 points to edge out American Krysta Palmer (343.75).

China has now won the women’s 3m springboard at nine straight Games, and have also finished 1-2 three straight times.

For Palmer, her bronze medal marked the first American woman to win a springboard medal since Kelly McCormick’s bronze at the 1988 Seoul Games. It had also been 21 years since a U.S. woman last won an individual diving medal, with Laura Wilkinson taking platform gold at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Unlike the semi-finals, where Shi trailed early, the defending champion asserted herself right from the get-go in the final, ranking first in both the overall rankings and on each individual dive the entire way. In fact, her lowest scoring dive (75.00) scored better than the rest of the field’s best dive.

In the battle for the minor medals, Wang had a strong final two dives (69.75, 73.50) to secure the silver, out-scoring Palmer by over three points in the penultimate round (66.65).

Canada’s Jennifer Abel, fourth in this event at both the 2016 Olympic Games and 2019 World Championships, sat in third place through two rounds, but a rare miss on her third dive (39.00) saw her plummet down the standings, ultimately finishing well out of the medals in eighth.

Diving will continue in Tokyo on Monday with the preliminary round of the men’s 3m springboard.

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About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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