A look at a few key numbers in the short countdown to diving at the 20th World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka
The first three gold medals in diving will be awarded this Saturday at the World Aquatics Championships - Fukuoka 2023. To put things in perspective, here are a few unique statistics leading up to the high-stakes action.
261 Divers who are expected to compete during the first week of competition.
50 Nations vying for world diving titles in Fukuoka. Athletes from nine of these countries earned medals at the last world championships, in 2022.
22 Years since the Fukuoka Prefecture Pool hosted a world championship diving event. After that 2001 competition, the diving boards were refurbished at this indoor venue near the Fukuoka Airport. But did you know that the 50-meter pool near the diving well becomes an ice skating rink in the winter?
15 Events will be contested in diving at the 20th World Aquatics Championships (13 of them on boards up to 10 meters, plus two more in high-diving). That means that more world champions will be crowned in diving than any other discipline here except swimming.
12 12th place or better is how high an athlete must finish in order to earn a 2024 Paris Olympic berth for his/her country in an individual diving event (with a maximum of two athletes per nation). In synchro events, the top three teams will earn an Olympic spot for their countries (excluding France which is already guaranteed a berth as the host nation).
11 Judges score a synchronized dive. Six of them rate execution; five assess synchronization.
7 Judges score the individual and team diving events.
2 World Aquatics Championships in which China swept every gold medal in diving. In 2011, in Shanghai, China won 10 titles in 10 events. In 2022, Chinese divers won all 13 events contested in Budapest, Hungary.
Less than 2 How many seconds it takes to execute a world-class dive from 10m, 3m, and 1m boards.
1 Day to go before the first diving medals will be awarded at the World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka (on July 15).