Synchronized Springboard, Women

Like all diving events, the Chinese were favorites for the gold medal. The dominant diving nation had previously won the event all but once at both the Olympics and World Championships, with Russia winning the sole non-Chinese gold on both occasions. China’s entrants Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen were the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Doha World champions, with Chang also having won the 2017 title (with Shi Tingmao). Diving first, Chang and Chen took the lead from the start and were never seriously threatened, recording the best marks in all five dives.

The competition for the other medals was much closer. The British duo ranked second after one dive, but a poorly executed first optional dive dropped them back to sixth. Meanwhile, the American pair of Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook recorded the same score as the Chinese in dive two, and they moved up to second place. The experienced Australian divers Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith (silver in Doha) had a poor first dive (sixth), but recorded three great scores to move up to third after four dives, less than a point behind the Americans.

In their final dive, however, Australia’s Smith almost missed the board. She did manage to complete the routine, but collected the lowest score of the round, and instead of silver or bronze, it moved them back to fifth. The Britons Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen benefited from the mistake, taking the bronze, as they had done at the 2024 World Championships.