Men’s diving opens at the Paris Olympics on Monday with the synchro 10m platform event. At the last Games, in Tokyo, Tom Daley of Great Britain and his partner won gold and prevented the People’s Republic of China from seizing all eight Olympic diving titles. Can Daley do it again with his fifth partner in his fifth Games?
On Monday, Tom Daley will go for it! The popular British diver and father of two will vie for his fifth career medal in his fifth Olympics. It is worth noting that the men’s 10m synchro event will be his only competition in Paris. And, this year, he will dive with a new partner, Noah Williams, with whom he claimed silver at the 2024 World Aquatic Championships.
If the British pair make the podium, it would be Daley’s third Olympic medal in men’s 10m synchro. Daley already has a bronze from Rio 2016 and gold from Tokyo 2020. The Tokyo gold proved to be pivotal, as he and Matty Lee became the first British pair in history to win the event since its Olympic debut in 2000. Their triumph also meant that China would not, could not, win all eight Olympic diving gold medals in Tokyo.
In Paris, however, China’s divers will once again try to win everything. Their hopes on Monday lie with three-time world champions Lian Junjie and Yang Hao (2022, 2023, 2024). It would take a massive upset to defeat Lian and Yang, but this is their first Olympics and the pressure is on.
Also worth watching are Kevin Berlin Reyes and Randal Willars Valdez who have a chance to put Mexico on the podium in this event for the first time since 2012. That is, if they can nail their dive list. The Mexican duo plans to perform the very toughest sequence in the eight-team field and, in diving, scores are multiplied by the degree of difficulty.
The first of six rounds at the Aquatics Centre is set for 11:00 Paris time. Be sure not to miss it!