Platform, Men

The past met the future in this event and the past won. Klaus Dibiasi had won a silver medal on platform at the 1964 Olympics, and then won this event in 1968 and 1972. He was back trying to become the first diver ever to three-peat in an event, and he did so. The silver medal went to young American Greg Louganis, a 16-year-old of Samoan descent. Dibiasi was World Champion on platform in 1973 and 1975, while Louganis would win that event in 1978, 1982, and 1986. He would also win the Olympic platform gold medal in 1984 and 1988, having been denied in 1980 by the USA-led boycott. To this time Dibiasi was considered the greatest platform diver ever, but Louganis, who also won two World and Olympic titles on springboard, would end his career after the 1988 Olympics considered the greatest diver ever.

Louganis actually led the final after the third dive, on which he performed a reverse pike dive and earned a 10.0 from the Canadian judge. But Dibiasi went ahead on the fourth dive, a 1½ triple twister, and was never headed. He also received a 10 on his final dive, a forward 3½ sommie.

Placing ninth was Soviet Sergey Nemtsanov who then disappeared from the Olympic Village. Soviet officials claimed he had been abducted but he was eventually brought back to the Soviet contingent and dove again at the 1980 Olympics, placing seventh in Moscow.