Platform, Men

In 2021, Cao Yuan had been the first diver to win three different Olympic events when he claimed gold in the platform. In Paris, he would help break another record, as his repeat victory in the event made China the first nation to win eight diving gold medals at a single Olympics.

As usual in Paris, the other chief contender for gold was also Chinese. Earlier in the year, Cao had been beaten at the World Championships by Yang Hao, who also won gold in the synchronized event in Paris, but his individual performance was not as consistent. Having survived a bombed dive in qualifying, his performance in the final was consistently poor. He recorded the lowest scoring dive on three occasions, and ended in last place. This made him the only Chinese diver in Paris not to medal in each event they entered.

But Yang’s poor result didn’t give Cao an easy route to gold. Japan’s Rikuto Tamai took the lead after two dives, and was less than three points behind Cao after four. Tamai’s fifth dive was a failure, but it still left him a clear second. The silver medal was Japan’s first ever Olympic diving medal, the previous best having been two fourth places at the 1936 Olympics. The 17-year-old had already won silver at the 2022 World Championships, and also competed at Tokyo 2020.

Competition for the bronze was quite close. The 2023 World champion Cassiel Rousseau (AUS) started in third, but dropped back to sixth after four dives. With two solid final dives, he moved back up the leader board, but landed in fourth place, behind Britain’s Noah Williams. The Briton had earlier won silver in the synchronized platform event.

Cao was the fifth person to win two gold medals in the men’s platform, while only Klaus Dibiasi has won three (1968-1976).