The Olympic history of diving in Egypt and South Africa is set to write new chapters at the upcoming Olympic Games . While these two countries might not have the extensive diving history at the Olympics as other more established diving nations, there are signs of growing interest and achievement, as evidenced by recent Olympic performances and international competitions heading into Paris 2024.
Egypt
The Diving Olympic history of Egypt started at the 1928 Olympics when Farid Simaika won a silver and a bronze medal in the men's 10m and 3m events respectively.
After Simaika's achievement, Egypt was present in the 1936, 1948, 1952, 1960, 1968, and 1984 Olympic Games. Afterward, the country faced a 30-year gap until Maha Gouda qualified alongside the given quota pass to Mohab Ishak to compete at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, bringing back the light on Egyptian diving.
Two years later Gouda, Ishak, Youssef Selim, and Maha Amer competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
At Tokyo 2020 Games Egypt had the duo Gouda and Ishak compete, while in Paris 2024, four divers are set to represent Egypt in diving.
For Paris 2024, Mohamed Farouk, Maha Amer, Ramez Diaa, and Malak Tawfik secured diving spots for Team Egypt from their performances at the African Diving Championships which were held in Durbin, South Africa on 18 – 20 December 2024.
During last February's World Championships in Doha, Maha Amer clinched a memorable and crowd-pleasing bronze medal in the 1m event.
South Africa
South Africa has a storied Olympic history in diving, beginning with Geoffrey Mandy's performance on the platform event in the 1948 Olympics. South African divers continued the Olympic tradition through 1952, 1992, 2004, 2008, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games.
In Paris 2024, Julia Vincent will represent South Africa in the Women’s 3m event after becoming World Championships Finalist in Doha 2024 and Fukuoka 2023. The 29-year-old is set to compete at her third consecutive Olympic Games in Paris 2024 in the Women’s 3m event.
When to support African divers at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
- Women’s 3m preliminary: Julia Vincent and Maha Amer on 7 August
- Men’s 3m preliminary: Mohamed Farouk on 6 August
- Women’s 10m preliminary: Malak Tawfik on 5 August
- Men’s 10m preliminary: Ramez Diaa on 9 August