Diving at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Dates 25 July – 7 August 2021
Medal Events 8

The diving events returned to being indoors after the outdoor pool used in Rio. The 2020 events took place at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, in the Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park in Tokyo. The 15,000-capacity centre was purpose built for the 2020 Games, and after the Games was going to be used for domestic and international competitions. Fortunately for the Tokyo organisers there was no repeat of the incident in Rio when the water turned from blue to green.

The individual events consisted of three phases; a preliminary phase, semi-final and final. Each male diver had six dives in each phase while the women had five. After the first phase, the top 18 divers progressed to the semi-final and the top 12 then went through to the final, with previous scores being wiped clean before the next phase. Seven judges scored each dive. All divers had to be 14-years-of-age on or before 31 December 2020. In the Synchronised events there were no preliminary phases, it was a straight final. Each pair of divers again had six dives each for men and five for women, with six execution judges, and five synchronisation judges, awarding points.

China has dominated diving in the last 30 years and taken the level of competition to new heights. At the last three Olympics (2008-16) they won 20 of the 24 gold medals available. They came to Tokyo having also dominated the 2019 World Championships, winning 12 of the 13 gold medals. Their tally of 17 medals at the Worlds eclipsed the next four best totals. Great Britain, USA, China, Mexico, Russia, Italy, and Australia all offered a small threat to the Chinese domination in Tokyo.

The strong Chinese team was headed by Chen Aisen in the men’s competition and Shi Tingmao in the women’s. Aisen, at his first Olympics in 2016, won two golds in the individual and synchronised platform events and since then had won two synchronised platform world titles. Tingmao was also a double gold medallist from Rio and, since then, she had added four world titles to her medal collection.

Britain had a strong squad in Tokyo, with springboard synchronised world champion silver medallists Daniel Goodfellow and Jack Laugher seen as potential medal winners. Laugher won the gold with Chris Mears in Rio. Of course, Tom Daley was a strong medal contender in his fourth Olympics. Daley and Yuan were both attempting to win a medal at their third consecutive Olympics, while Daley was looking for an elusive gold medal.

It was Tingmao and her partner Wang Han who continued the Chinese domination by winning the first gold medal of the Games in the synchronised springboard event. The first men’s gold of the Games went to the British pair of Tom Daley and Matty Lee in the synchronised platform, and for Daley, it was eventually that first Olympic gold after two bronzes.

Britain’s gold for Daley and Lee was the only setback for the Chinese divers who won seven of the eight gold medals on offer in Tokyo, and completely dominated the competition once again as they won 12 of the 24 medals available, while the United States and Great Britain were the next best nations with three medals. China’s Xie Siyi and Shi Tingmao both won two golds, with the latter winning her fourth gold in the last two Olympics. In the all-time medal table, China goes to Paris 2024 just one gold medal behind the United States.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Springboard, Men Olympic 2 – 3 August 2021 29 20
Platform, Men Olympic 6 – 7 August 2021 29 18
Synchronized Springboard, Men Olympic 28 July 2021 16 8
Synchronized Platform, Men Olympic 26 July 2021 16 8
Springboard, Women Olympic 30 July – 1 August 2021 27 17
Platform, Women Olympic 4 – 5 August 2021 30 20
Synchronized Springboard, Women Olympic 25 July 2021 16 8
Synchronized Platform, Women Olympic 27 July 2021 16 8
143 (71/72) 30 (24/23)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Springboard, Men Xie SiyiCHN Wang ZongyuanCHN Jack LaugherGBR
Platform, Men Cao YuanCHN Yang JianCHN Tom DaleyGBR
Synchronized Springboard, Men People's Republic of ChinaCHN United StatesUSA GermanyGER
Synchronized Platform, Men Great BritainGBR People's Republic of ChinaCHN ROCROC
Springboard, Women Shi TingmaoCHN Wang HanCHN Krysta PalmerUSA
Platform, Women Quan HongchanCHN Chen YuxiCHN Melissa WuAUS
Synchronized Springboard, Women People's Republic of ChinaCHN CanadaCAN GermanyGER
Synchronized Platform, Women People's Republic of ChinaCHN United StatesUSA MexicoMEX

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
People's Republic of China CHN 7 5 0 12
Great Britain GBR 1 0 2 3
United States USA 0 2 1 3
Canada CAN 0 1 0 1
Germany GER 0 0 2 2
Australia AUS 0 0 1 1
Mexico MEX 0 0 1 1
ROC ROC 0 0 1 1