Springboard, Women

The heavy favorite was Gao Min, who was the defending champion, had won both the 1-metre and 3-metre springboard titles at the 1991 World Championships, and had not lost internationally since 1986. She had wanted to retire in 1991 because of shoulder injuries but was convinced by Chinese officials to keep diving, and fought through the injuries. In the final round in Barcelona, she trailed Russian Irina Lashko after six dives. But on Lashko’s seventh dive, a back 2½ pike, she missed her entry badly and dropped well behind Gao. Gao pulled further and further ahead, winning by an even larger margin than she had in Seoul. Lashko recovered on her final dives to win the silver medal.

Gao retired after the 1992 Olympics, considered the greatest woman diver ever on springboard. Lashko repeated her silver medal at the 1996 Olympics, and won a bronze in 2000 synchro springboard. Lashko competed at four Olympics, effectively representing four different nations – the Soviet Union in 1988, the Unified Team in 1992, Russia in 1996, and Australia in 2004, after marrying an Australian.

For the first time ever, save for 1980 when they did not compete, no American woman won a medal in this event. Their top finisher was Julie Ovenhouse in fifth place. She had been 11th halfway through the final, before moving up to second with two dives left, but performed poorly on her final dives to drop out of the medals.