David Boudia retires from diving

By OlympicTalkSep 7, 2022, 7:09 PM EDT

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David Boudia, a four-time Olympic medalist and the U.S.’ lone individual Olympic diving champion over the last two decades, announced his retirement at age 33 on Wednesday, 15 months after his last meet.

“What a ride it’s been! The time has to come to officially announce my retirement from the sport that has shown me so much,” was posted on his social media. “It’s with great contentment and excitement, I close this chapter and move on to the next. You always hear people say you’ll know when it’s time to hang it up and I never really believed that. I do now. I took my final dive at Olympic Trials in 2021 and the following months were rough. But ever since that dive, not once have I had a feeling of ‘I need to get back in.'”

Boudia made his Olympic debut in 2008 at age 19, then won an epic platform final at the 2012 London Games to become the first American to take diving gold since Laura Wilkinson in 2000 and the first American to win the men’s platform since Greg Louganis in 1988.

Boudia then earned platform bronze in 2016. He added synchronized platform bronze in 2012 (with Nick McCrory) and silver in 2016 (with Steele Johnson).

Boudia, after contemplating retirement after the Rio Games, competed for the last time at last year’s Olympic Trials, placing third in the springboard to miss the team by one spot. He finished 4.45 points out of an Olympic spot after more than 1,300 points worth of dives.

Boudia turned to coaching last year at his alma mater, Purdue, and attended the world championships in Budapest this summer in that role.

“I look forward to continuing to be immersed in the diving world as a coach and see what the next chapter holds,” he posted. “Eyes set for Paris 2024, just in a new role!”

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China wins every gold medal at world diving championships

By OlympicTalkJul 3, 2022, 12:25 PM EDT

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China swept the gold medals at the world diving championships for the second time, going 13 for 13 in Budapest over the last eight days.

Chinese divers earned two medals in every individual event that’s on the Olympic program and won all six synchronized events, plus a team event.

In a testament to their depth, the four Chinese divers who won the individual events were different from the four Chinese divers who swept the individual golds at the Tokyo Olympics.

Yang Jian finished off the sweep by taking the men’s platform title Sunday, repeating as world champion a year after taking silver at the Olympics.

Wang Zongyuan, who took men’s springboard silver in Tokyo, swept the 1m and 3m springboard titles and teamed with Tokyo platform champion Cao Yuan for synchro springboard gold.

Chen Yuxi repeated as world champion in women’s platform, edging Tokyo gold medalist Quan Hongchan by three tenths of a point. Chen took silver in Tokyo behind Quan.

The lone blemishes came in the women’s 3m springboard and men’s platform. In the former, Canadian Mia Vallée took silver, a distant 37.9 points behind gold medalist Chen Yiwen, but 4.15 ahead of China’s Chang Yani.

Japanese 15-year-old Rikuto Tamai, who led the men’s platform final through four of six rounds, edged China’s Yang Hao for silver by 2.55 points.

It’s the second consecutive worlds that China won every event that it entered. In 2019, China won 12 golds and did not enter a team into one of the mixed-gender synchronized events that is not on the Olympic program.

In 2011, China won all 10 events at the world championships. That was before mixed-gender synchro events were added to the program.

China has never swept the golds at an Olympics, coming one shy in 2008, 2016 and 2021.

The lone non-Chinese divers to take gold in Tokyo were the British synchro platform team of Tom Daley and Matty Lee. Daley, 28, took a break from competition for at least one year post-Olympics. Lee entered worlds and took silver with Noah Williams in synchro platform and finished eighth in the individual platform.

The U.S. earned three medals — Sarah Bacon‘s silver in the 1m springboard (not an Olympic event), Delaney Schnell and Katrina Young‘s silver in the women’s synchro platform and Schnell and Carson Tyler‘s bronze in the mixed synchro platform.

Four-time Olympic medalist David Boudia was at worlds as a coach. Boudia, 33, last competed at last June’s Olympic Trials, missing the Tokyo team, and said in the spring that he hasn’t decided if or when he will return to competition.

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Delaney Schnell, Katrina Young match U.S.’ best synchro finish ever at diving worlds

By OlympicTalkJun 30, 2022, 11:57 AM EDT

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Olympians Delaney Schnell and Katrina Young earned silver in the synchronized women’s platform, matching the U.S.’ best result in any synchro event in world diving championships history.

Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchang gave China its eighth gold in as many events in Budapest. It is now five events away from possibly sweeping the golds at a worlds for the second time (2011).

Schnell and Young finished a distant 69 points behind. They rallied from eighth place after two of five dives and fourth place going into the last round. They tallied 299.40 points, edging a Malaysian pair by .72 of a point for silver.

Schnell earned Olympic silver in the event with Jessica Parratto in Tokyo. Parratto took three months off after the Games before returning to training. Young made it individually for a second consecutive Games, finishing 17th.

The U.S. has won four silvers among the men’s and women’s synchro platform and springboard events in diving worlds history. China has won 40 of the 47 gold medals.

On Wednesday, American Sarah Bacon earned her second consecutive world silver medal in the 1m springboard, which is not an Olympic event. In 2019, Bacon became the first U.S. woman to earn an individual Olympic or world diving championships medal in 14 years.

Bacon missed the Tokyo Olympic team by one spot in the 3m springboard and, with injured partner Kassidy Cook, in the synchro springboard.

The U.S. has multiple top-two finishes at a diving worlds for the first time since 2009.

Worlds conclude with finals in men’s 1m springboard (later Thursday), mixed synchro platform (Friday), women’s 3m springboard (Saturday) and women’s synchro springboard and men’s platform (Sunday).

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Women's 10m Synchro Top 3 pairs last dive🔥 Which is the best for you? #FINABudapest2022 pic.twitter.com/lJjekQtkZa

— FINA (@fina1908) June 30, 2022

7.47 points closest so far

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