Great Britain made it three medals in as many days on the diving calendar with bronze in the Women’s Synchronised 10m Platform final, as Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson produced a stellar fightback to inherit the third step of the podium in the final round of competition.
It quickly became a matter of contention for the silver and bronze medals, as China’s Yuxi Chen and Hongchan Quan took an early lead following the two “required” dives.
But it was the European nations of Great Britain and Ukraine – represented by Kseniia Bailo and Sofiia Lyskun – who spearheaded the chasing pack to sit second and third respectively with three rounds to go.
It was on the third round where dips in form started to show for a whole host of athletes, notably the British pair. They experienced a slight over-rotation on their entry to take down their execution mark, along with a slight speed difference on their rotation during their Forward 3 ½ Somersaults Pike (107B), scoring 60.30 points, with Ukraine scoring similarly.
Spendolini-Sirieix and Toulson looked visibly determined to claw back the deficit as they sat in fifth behind North Korea, Mexico and Canada with two rounds to go. They responded in the penultimate round by adding 10 points more than their previous dive, thanks to a well-executed Inward 3 ½ Somersaults Tuck (407C), scoring them 69.12 and putting them within five points of then-bronze medallists Canada.
The tension was palpable amongst those in attendance in the French capital, which could sense a changing of the guard amongst the medallists. Determined to see that through, the British pairing put in what would be the best non-Chinese dive of the competition, a 77.76 score for their Back 2 ½ Somersaults 1 ½ Twists Pike (5253B) being enough to swap places with the Canadian pairing and give them both their first Olympic medals on a score of 304.38.
China continued their dominance in the event, having taken the gold medal at every edition since its introduction at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, as they took the gold on 359.10. North Korea’s Jin Mi Jo and Mi Rae Kim did enough to fend off the British fightback and secure silver on 315.90.
Speaking to Team GB, Spendolini-Sirieix described how they dealt with the pressure through the rounds, following their drop on round 3.
“It was so tense for us,” said the 19-year-old. “First off, we didn’t look at the scoreboard so we did not know how close it was. Our back twist is our strongest dive and we just wanted to be strong whatever happens.
“I was disappointed more than worried after the third dive because I knew we could bring it back. I gave it my all on the inward and let it all out.
“Just having family and doing it alongside Lois is so much sweeter. I can’t wait to celebrate with them.”
Toulson, the most experienced of the pair at 24, added: “I have been diving for 17 years now and this is my third Olympics.
They [family] have been with me throughout all of that and I knew going into this competition, it would be the best chance I will ever have of getting an Olympic medal alongside Andrea.
“We knew our last two dives were our strongest and the most difficult so we never gave up. We kept pushing and we never backed down no matter what.”
The next best European finishers were that of Ukraine, whose Back 2 ½ Somersaults 1 ½ Twists Pike (5253B) gave them their highest score of 68.16 in the penultimate round before finishing seventh on a total of 285.00.
France’s Jade Gillet and Emily Hallifax rounded off the field in eighth on 234.84. They received the plaudits from the home crowd with some spirited dives at times, with their “required” dives being executed particularly well.
