PARIS –  China was on fire at the Aquatics Centre in Paris on Monday, as Lian Junjie, 23, and Yang Hao, 26, dominated the field in the men’s 10m synchro event.  The three-time world champions built their lead after each of the six rounds to score 490.35 points for the day, including three 10s from three synchro judges during the compulsory rounds.

“We are very excited and very relieved,” Lian said, also speaking on behalf of Yang, his diving partner of six years. “There was a lot of pressure on us. The Great Britain team is very strong.”

Lian and Yang’s victory also gave China its 49^th diving gold medal in Olympic history, moving the Asian nation to the top of the diving medal table, one ahead of the US.

Great Britain’s Tom Daley, 30, and Noah Williams, 24 (his fifth partner in five Games), held firmly onto second place after each round to claim the silver, 26.91 points behind China.

The silver was Daley’s fifth Olympic diving medal. He is now tied for third-most among male divers.

“If somebody had told me two years or 18 months ago that I would be anywhere near winning another Olympic medal,” Daley said, “I probably would have lost.” 

In the battle for bronze, Canada’s Rylan Wiens, 22, and Nathan Zsombor-Murray, 21, performed their hardest dive in the fourth round, hoping their last two dives would be clean enough to stay ahead of Mexico’s pair who had the most difficult dive list in the field.

Ultimately the young Canadians prevailed to capture Olympic bronze, 3.48 points ahead of Mexico’s Kevin Berlin Reyes and Randal Willars Valdez whose last three dives featured 3.6 and 3.7 degrees of difficulty.

After medal ceremony and running the media gauntlet at the pool, Daley said he planned to spend the afternoon with his family. After that, he said, “I don't know if we're going to get a holiday because by the time the Games are finished, [my son] Robbie goes back to school. I'm just looking forward to being home [in Los Angeles] for a while. We just moved there.”

Asked about the odds of returning for 2028, when Los Angeles hosts the Games, Daley said, “I don't know. I've never ruled that out. But for right now, I just want to enjoy this.”

Ukraine, Australia, Germany, and France placed fifth through eighth, respectively.

Worth noting: British-born Gary Hunt competed for France in his first and last Olympics at age 40. Hunt is better known for his 27-meter high diving legacy, which includes two world championship gold medals.

"I had a bit of a tear in my eye,” Hunt said. "It's taken a long time. I didn't even think I would get to this stage. It's an experience I'll never forget.”

What's Up Next

Diving returns on Wednesday with the women’s 10m synchro final. China will aim for diving gold No. 3 in an event it has never lost at the Games. If victorious, Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan would give China a perfect Olympic seven-peat.