Rhiannan Iffland made up a 14.50-point deficit on her final two dives on Wednesday to win her fourth consecutive world title. Canada’s Molly Carlson earned her second straight silver. Jessica Macaulay closed her career with her third bronze in a row.
One year older, one year better.
Rhiannan Iffland, Molly Carlson, and Jessica Macaulay went 1-2-3 in women’s high diving at the world championships – again. The podium in Doha was an exact replica of 2023’s.
On Wednesday at the Old Doha Port, Iffland, at 32, became the first high diver in history to win four world titles, a consecutive streak that began in 2017. Carlson, 25, captured her second straight silver for Canada. Macaulay, also of Canada, won her third bronze medal.
Afterwards, Iffland said that becoming a four-time world champion in only four tries was “a big accomplishment,” adding, “I knew it was gonna be a fight, so it makes it a bit more rewarding. I’m really proud that I fought for it and didn’t give up.”
After the first two dives (on Tuesday), Iffland trailed Carlson by 14.50 points.
“It was a hard mental battle to convince myself it wasn’t over,” Iffland admitted. “In round three, the pressure was on. I’ve really grown to love the pressure. I need that bit of a challenge to step up.”
After that third dive, Iffland shrunk Carlson’s lead to 4.30 points. For the finale, Iffland performed the easiest dive among the top six athletes: an inward triple with a half twist (3.8 DD) but she landed it so cleanly that it scored 102.60 points and put all the pressure on Carlson, the final diver of the day.
Carlson needed more than 98.3 points to beat Iffland’s 342.00 total. But her tactics were just the opposite. Carlson saved the hardest dive in the entire contest for last: a forward four somersaults with a half twist (with 4.4 DD).
“I did that dive in practice and it did not go so well,” Carlson said, yet she tried to be as confident as she could when it mattered the most. “In the end, I was a little bit too confident,” she said.
Carlson landed a bit short and earned 77 points – not enough to beat Iffland, but just enough to edge 0.35 points past Macaulay for the silver.
“I am really proud of what I did today,” said Carlson, the two-time runner up. ‘Rhiannan – she is teaching me so much. I cannot wait to be a world champion one day.”
Kaylea Arnett, 30, placed fourth after transitioning recently from 3m and 10m diving. Arnett is a member of the Chickasaw nation, an indigenous tribe in the US. Xantheia Pennisi of Australia, 25, placed fifth. Anna Bader of Germany placed sixth, at age 40.
For bronze medallist Macaulay, 31, Wednesday marked the end of her high diving career.
“It was an incredible experience to compete here, to compete in high diving for the last time,” she said. “There are a lot of emotions, a lot of sadness, a little bit of grief because I have been doing it for so long.
“We have seen this sport progress like crazy. Women are doing dives that I hadn’t even thought I was going to do. Now I am excited to step back and to see the progress grow exponentially."
Next:
Men’s high diving concludes on Thursday. The 2023 World and World Cup champion Constantin Popovici of Romania was in ninth place after two dives (held Tuesday). The leader, Gary Hunt, 39, doesn’t have the highest degree of difficulty anymore but his dives are incredibly polished so he is impossible to count out. Hunt is a two-time gold medalist who has only once missed the world championship podium in his long career.
Top 10 men after 2 Rounds (of 4)
- HUNT Gary (FRA)
- HESLOP Aidan (GBR)
- PREDA Catalin-Petru (ROM)
- LICHTENSTEIN James (USA)
- MARTINEZ CABRAL Yolotl (MEX)
- GIMENO Carlos (ESP)
- GARCIA CELIS Miguel (COL)
- GUZMAN Sergio (MEX)
- POPOVICI Constantin (ROM)
- PRYGOROV Oleksiy (UKR)