China’s excellence in women’s 3m synchronized diving is so strong and deep that it has not only won the past five Olympic gold medals, but it has also won all 13 world championship gold medals awarded since 2001.  On Saturday, Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen will try to extend China’s Olympic streak after claiming the past three world titles together.

Image Source: Yasmin Harper looks ready for Paris 2024 (Barrington Coombs/Getty Images)

Other contenders include Great Britain’s Yasmin Harper (on the eve of her 24th birthday) and Scarlett Mew Jensen, 22, who earned world championship silver in 2023 and bronze in 2024 and finished the 2023 World Cup season ranked No. 2 behind Chang and Chen.

Also watch for Americans Sarah Bacon, who is making her Olympic debut at 27, and Kassidy Cook, 29, who is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2016. They placed fourth at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. 

Image Source: Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook train at Olympic Aquatics Centre ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Notably, four years ago, Cook, earned a berth for the US in women’s 3m individual and the women’s 3m synchronised events for the Tokyo Games. However, the US Olympic roster is based on the results of their Olympic trials.

“I was going into the Tokyo Olympic trials feeling ready and confident,” Cook said, then failed to make the cut in both events, “which was pretty devastating.”

“I was planning on retiring after that [Tokyo] Olympic Games,” Cook said. “Not making the team kept me diving, and now I am an Olympian. I’m just so excited to be here.”