Springboard, Women

With the champions in the sychronized springboard, Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen, also entered in the individual event, China aimed for a 1-2 finish. The two had achieved this at the last two Worlds, with Chen winning in 2023 and Chang in 2024. In 2022, they had also both medaled, with Chen winning and Chang in third place.

While Chen had breezed through the opening rounds in Paris, with the best score on all five dives in the semi-finals, Chang had struggled with her inverse jumps. In her semi-final, she only scored 48 points from it, eventually placing fourth. In the final, she struggled even more, recording 42 points, the lowest of the round. Solid dives brought her back into medal contention, but this effort was eventually “only” good enough for bronze.

Chen, by contrast, had consistently scored over 70 points in each of her dives, giving her a comfortable 33-point lead over Australia’s Maddison Keeney. The Australian had earned a synchronized bronze in 2021 and had been a World championship medalist in 2019. Her silver was the first in the event for Australia, while Chen’s gold was her country’s 10th, now trailing the United States in overall Olympic golds by one.