Courtesy: USA Diving
Indianapolis, Ind.-Four athletes were named to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team today, Krysta Palmer and Hailey Hernandez in the Women’s 3-Meter and Brandon Loschiavo and Jordan Windle in the Men’s 10-Meter.
Today’s competition kicked off with the finals of the Women’s 3-Meter Springboard where Palmer, who qualified for the 3-Meter Synchronized earlier in the week, continued to expand her lead, ending the competition with an 85-point lead on her nearest competitor. Entering her final dive, her lead was substantial enough that she would win and make the team regardless. Palmer proceeded to execute the most difficult dive of the competition, a Forward 2 1/2 Somersault 2 Twist Pike for a score of 81.60, ending the competition with a cumulative score of 1011.95.
The hunt for the second Olympic spot came down to the last dive as Hailey Hernandez, Sarah Bacon, Alison Gibson and Kristen Hayden battled it out on the boards throughout the competition. In the end, 18-year-old Hernandez earned the second Olympic berth after consistently executing her list round-after-round, ending the competition with a cumulative score of 926.55.
In the Men’s 10-Meter, Loschiavo, who already held a substantial lead, hit his first dive and never looked back. His best dive of the night was his fourth dive, a Reverse 3 ½ Somersault Tuck, in which he scored 91.80 points. Loschiavo ended the competition with a cumulative score of 1421 points.
Alongside him on the podium is Windle, who also came into the finals with a sizable gap to the rest of the field. Windle immediately kicked off the night scoring a 96 on his first dive, an Inward 3 ½ Tuck. He carried that momentum throughout the event and ended his day with an average score of 82.55 per dive throughout this final list.
Athlete Quotes:
Krysta Palmer
When asked if she thought when she began diving at 20 that she would make the Olympic Team:
“My career has gone in stages, and I was first a walk-on at our university since I have no diving experience and my freshman year come in and my coach kept telling me to keep working hard and going for it to see how far we can go. I knew that I got lucky with a really good coach. To know that I stepped in with a team with a knowledgeable and powerful coach, our dreams kept getting bigger. Along the way, we kept making bigger and bigger dreams. I was a walk-on who went into a full-ride scholarship. I thought that was going to be the end of my career. I didn’t know what was next. I went to my first USA Diving competition for nationals. At 2016 Trials, I put platform aside and focused on the springboard.”
On seeing her brother, Nathaniel on deck after last dive:
“It was so amazing, and I know since this past year just him supporting me, and he has been my biggest supporter, so just having him there at the deck being able to give him the biggest hug it was an unreal experience.”
On making her Olympic dream for Tokyo over Paris or LA
“Honestly, within this past year, I had a lot of struggles, but I think I have come back really strong and so coming to Trials, I know consistency was the name of the game, and I know I wanted to go out there and have fun and put out a solid list and whatever results I got I would be happy with.”
Being a first time Olympian
“It has been an honor. It’s been a super long journey getting to this point with the ups and downs with injuries. I can speak for the both of us. We’ve kind of been beat up here and there .”
On if he thought about the legacy Purdue divers have had on tower in recent years:
“I try to avoid that as much as possible I try to stay in the moment for every dive looking into the future and past kind of clouds the present, so I really tried to focus on what I can do, and at the end, I thought about it when David and Steele gave me a hug.”
On the atmosphere of competing against your friends:
“It’s definitely a mix bags of emotions at the same time we want them to do super well. On the other spectrum, you really want yourself to do as best as possible. Obviously, you have to beat them to get into the spot that you need, so it’s fun, but you have to focus on yourself until the end, so you don’t deal with all the emotions there.”
On why he scratched with 3-meter individual:
“After the 10-meter prelims and semi, my arms started to get sore and started to give. I did my first dive during prelims for 50 points. It was a sign, and the next round was also 50 points. I took the decision to tell Matt that it was smart for me to pull out and just focus on what is important. Brandon and I worked really hard in semi for towers to get a decent lead, and I wanted to take advantage of that.”
On scoring 96 pts on the first dive
“That honestly came out of nowhere, all the adrenaline and seeing everybody in the stands. It felt really good, and I was in the moment we just rode that until the end of the competition.”
Complete Women’s Press Conference: https://vimeo.com/562285561
Complete Men’s Press Conference: https://vimeo.com/562317426
Final Results:
Women’s 3-Meter Springboard
1. Krysta Palmer 1011.95
2. Hailey Hernandez 926.55
3. Sarah Bacon 912.10
4. Kristen Hayden 908.85
5. Alison Gibson 903.40
6. Brooke Schultz 836.50
7. Abigail Knapton 809.10
8. Anne Fowler 808.75
9. Margo O’Meara 802.00
10. Bridget O’Neil 784.25
11. Samantha Pickens 774.30
12. Kelly Straub 767.40
Men’s 10-Meter Platform
1. Brandon Loschiavo 1421.00
2. Jordan Windle 1401.40
3. David Dinsmore 1278.50
4. Joshua Hedberg 1235.70
5. Tyler Downs 1207.30
6. Jacob Siler 1144.80
7. Zach Cooper 1141.85
8. Jordan Rzepka 1127.40
9. Maxwell Flory 1113.10
10. Carson Tyler 1094.65
11. Chase Lane 1085.50
12. Benjamin Bramley 1066.00
Competition concludes tomorrow with the Men’s 3-Meter beginning at 6:35 followed by the Women’s 10-Meter at 8:50. Both events will be broadcast on NBC.
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