RIJEKA, Croatia – On a hazy Thursday by the Adriatic Sea, Kirill Kosimov proved to be the king of the platform for boys' 16-18 years old. The Russian, who will turn 16 in December, won a thrilling rip-fest over Ukraine’s Mark Hrytsenko to add a shiny new individual 10m gold to the gold he had already won in 10m synchro three days earlier.

Day 7 of the Junior World Championships also featured the final event for the 14-to-15-year-old girls. On the 3m springboard, the Cueva Lobato twins gave Mexico two more medals to the six that their family had already contributed: a third gold for Mia, and a bronze for Lia. China’s Chen Xiangling took the silver to share another the podium with the twins, just as she had on Day 1 in the 1m event.

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Boys platform – Group A (ages 16-18)

The last two divers of the day, Kosimov and Hrytsenko, were deadlocked with 502.90 points apiece and one dive to go – which was a statement, considering Kosimov started the final with a 17.85-point advantage over Hrytsenko when the first four dives from prelims were carried over into the final score.  

By the time they were up, China’s Nie Jun had already rallied from a poor third-round dive to guarantee himself at least a bronze medal. Kosimov went next. He ripped a back 2½ with 1½ twists, and when he re-surfaced, four of the seven judges gave him 9s.

Hrytsenko had the harder dive list in the final, but his final dive wasn’t his hardest. (He had already nailed that monster in the second round to earn 90.65 points on his forward 4½.)

Hrytsenko took a final breath on the tower. All he had to do was beat Kosimov’s 84.80 points for the same dive with one extra twist (which increased its DD by 0.4).

It was solid but flawed. Five judges gave it a 7.5, and when final score flashed, the difference between gold and silver was 3.80 points.

Kosimov, the winner, said:

“After the preliminaries, I saw I’d be in a fight. I’d get chances. All I needed is to focus. When I saw that we had the exact same points, I just decided: either you do or not do.”

Runner-up Hrytsenko, 16, said he “had no idea” he was tied for first before his last dive. “It’s over,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I lose. I lose in the 2023 Junior Europeans here [by 1.20 points to Jorden Fisher-Eames of Great Britain]. I lose now. Maybe next season will be better. I hope so.”

Bronze medalist Nie said he had “a little bit miscalculation and it’s a pity” regarding his third dive, a reverse 3½ that took him out of second place. “After this, I continue training, about 7 or 8 hours a day.”

Girls’ 3m – Group B (ages 14-15)

In the last event for the 14-15-year-old girls, the Cueva Lobato twins were trying to share the podium, just as they had on 1m when Mia won gold and Lia took silver.

In Thursday’s three-round final, the stakes were high. One bad dive was enough to crush dreams. Lia’s second dive carried a 3.0 DD (compared to Mia’s 2.8 DD), and the risk didn’t quite pay off. It earned 46.50 points and dropped Lia from first to third.

With one dive to go, Mia was the new leader, 5.85 points ahead of Chen and 9.70 points ahead of Lia.

All three athletes did the same final dive: a forward 2½ with one twist. Mia’s scored an event-high 66.00 points. Chen’s scored 63.00 points, and so did Lia’s.

All three girls were back on the podium to close the girls’ Group B Junior World Championships like bookends. Mia took her third gold. Chen upgraded her 1m bronze to silver. And Lia took her second bronze to match the one she had captured on the platform less than 24 hours earlier.

Chen, the silver medalist said, “I learned a lot during this junior championships, especially mentally. I learned I can adjust myself during the competition, and that’s important.”

Mia Cueva Lobato, the winner, said:

She explained that she changed her second dive in the final from a difficult 205B (back 2½ pike) to an easier 205C (back 2½ tuck) “because I’m a little tired after so many days of competition. I did five events.”

Her twin, Lia, the bronze medalist did four events. “We are so proud of us! I’m proud of me. Next time, I think I will do better the back 2½ because I don’t train it too much for this final. Now we have one week of holidays in Italy. And later, school. We are in 9^th grade – first grade of high school.”

Next: 

The 2026 Junior World Championships concludes on Friday with the boys’ 1m (for ages 14-15) and girls’ platform (for ages 16-18).