At the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, he was the revelation of the competition: second in the men’s 3m springboard, Yona Knight-Wisdom, from Jamaica, brilliantly won his place for the Games in Brazil, taking place some months later. In the Olympic arena, he could not repeat that extraordinary performance (he was 14th at the Maria Lenk pool), but he’s now in Tokyo to prove that the Games’ flame is still alive and that he still has a place among the greatest divers in the planet.
“To be honest, I don’t expect to get the same result and ranking, but I can say I have the same level of confidence and I am extremely happy to be able to compete again and to see so many friends I admire”, considers Knight-Wisdom, who is seeking an Olympic spot in the 3m board after finishing 20th in this event at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju (KOR).
“I had a tough year, like everyone else, but my supporting team and my coach found ways to make it enjoyable – we had to follow a training programme from home, always with the hope to return to the pool as soon as it was possible”, he continues. “In the end, we’ve made it and I feel I have all the conditions to compete here in a good shape”.
Living in and training in Scotland, the Jamaican star, has one simple goal, “to qualify for the Games. Firstly, making the top-18 in the prelims and then take the semi-final in a confident mode. The idea is to enjoy the competition and then anything can happen”. On the venue in Tokyo, he is quite positive:
“The pool is awesome, very beautiful, and the stands are great – it’s just perfect. It’s pity though that spectators will most probably not be able to enjoy it during the Games… Hopefully, coaches and athletes will be able to produce a nice atmosphere…”
On the impact of his career in the Caribbean region (in Aquatics, Jamaica is mainly known for its swimming ace Alia Atkinson), the 1.87m star recognises that his effort “is producing its results, and will hopefully make the sport grow in the country”. After more than 10 years practicing the sport, Knight-Wisdom hopes that his “legacy” will trigger “development programmes in this discipline”. At 25, he admits: “I don’t want to leave and nothing stays behind. Hopefully, I still have some competitive years ahead of me, so I wish this development will continue”.
Knight-Wisdom perfectly understands the importance of these initiatives. “I was detected through a ‘talent identification’ programme, in a local club in Leeds, UK”, he recalls. At nine, he was firstly practicing gymnastics, but “one day, they came to my school and they proposed that I start diving. I loved it from the first day and never stopped since then”.
Decisive days for Knight-Wisdom during this World Cup will be May 5 (preliminaries) and May 6 (semi-finals and final of the men’s 3m springboard).