China dominated the diving events at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships winning 10 out of the available 13 events including 7 gold from the eight Olympic events and qualifying a full roster. The top 12 divers from the four individual events along with the top 3 teams from the four synchronized events qualify to the Olympics. Diving is one of six disciplines being held at the World Aquatics Championships which is currently being held in Kazan, Russia from July 24th to August 9th 2015. The diving events were held from July 24th to August 2nd 2015.
China placed a top, but conservative performance in the preliminary round of the women’s 3m synchronized springboard with a score of 312.90, over 10 points ahead of Canada. In the final China really displayed their ability by winning the gold medal with a score of 351.30. Canada finished with silver with a score of 319.47 while Australia won the bronze with a score of 304.20.
In the preliminary round at the men’s 10m synchronized platform the United States had an impressive round placing them into contention for a medal and an Olympic spot. However a relative poor final round relegated them to a fifth place finish. Instead it was Mexico and Russia who will join a near perfect China to the Olympics whom finished with an amazing score of 495.72.
China, Canada and Malaysia were the top three nations in the preliminary round in the women’s 10m synchronized platform. In the final both China and Canada were able to finish top two with a score of 359.52 and 339.99 respectively, but a very poor fourth dive from Malaysia meant they were unable to recover and finished seventh. The nation that locked up the bronze medal and final Olympic quota was North Korea whom finished with a score of 325.26.
A potential upset was looking possible in the men’s 3m synchronized springboard as hometown Russia finished ahead of China after the preliminary round with Mexico finishing third. The upset was not meant to be as China was able to refocus and won the gold with relative ease and by a score of 471.45. Russia was relegated to silver with a score of459.18. Mexico was unable to keep up with its preliminary performance as the pressure hit them as they scored poorly in their final two dives to ultimately finish eighth. Instead it was Great Britain whom won the bronze with a score of 445.20.
The most interesting event was the women’s 10m platform. China’s Ren Qian led the field without much difficulty during the preliminary and semi-final rounds. The final showed that even China can have a bad day. Both Ren and her compatriot Si Yajie were still among the top divers, but among China’s standards they were off the mark. This opportunity opened up another nation to take the gold and it was 16 year old Kim Kuk-hyang that took it to win gold with a score of 397.05. Ren Qian won silver with a score of 388.00 while Pandelela Rinong of Malaysia took bronze with a score of 385.05.
The quota distribution for the women’s 3m springboard was as follows; Australia, Canada, China (2), France, Great Britain, Italy, Malaysia, North Korea (2), Ukraine and United States.
In the men’s 3m springboard both Cao Yuan and He Chao of China were the top 2 highest ranked athletes in the preliminaries and semifinals. The finals were a bit more interesting. Firstly a mistake by Cao Yuan in the fourth and sixth dives placed him out of the medals as he finished fourth. Meanwhile He Chao was never able to extend his lead over the rest of the field and needed a good enough score in the final dive to prevent Ilia Zakharov of Russia from catching up. In the end He Chao won the gold with a score of 555.05, Zakharov won the silver with a score of 547.60 and Jack Laugher of Great Britain won the bronze with a score of 528.90.
The quota distribution for the men’s 3m springboard was as follows; Australia, China (2), France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, Russia (2), South Korea and Ukraine.
The women’s 3m springboard was quite the battle between China’s He Zi and her compatriot Shi Tingmao as they traded top finishes in the preliminary and semi-final round respectively as they finished about 20 points ahead of Canada’s Jennifer Abel. In the final it was Shi Tingmao that took the lead over her compatriot and while she left herself open for a comeback after her final dive He Zi was unable to take it as the two finished with scores of 383.55 and 377.45 respectively. Canada’s Jennifer Abel was set to win the bronze medal, but a terrible final dive cost her medal as she finished sixth. The bronze medal instead went to Tania Cagnotto of Italy as she finished with a score of 356.15.
The quota distribution for the women’s 3m springboard was as follows; Australia (2), Canada (2), China (2), Great Britain, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands and Ukraine (2).
In the men’s 10m platform it was China’s Qiu Bo and his compatriot Yang Jian that led all divers going into the final round. Qiu Bo was able to take control of the final after the third dive to win the gold medal with a score of 587.00. United States’ David Boudia won the silver medal with a score of 560.20 while Thomas Daley of Great Britain took the bronze with a score of 537.95.
The quota distribution for the men’s 10m platform was as follows; Australia, Belarus, China (2), France, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico (2), Russia (2) and United States.
The second major qualifier will be the Diving World Cup to be held in 2016. Both Asia and Oceania have continental qualifiers though they only offer a single spot to each individual event. Technically Africa can also have a continental qualifier, but none have been announced and it is unlikely that one will be announced.
Quotas by Nation
- China – 12
- Australia – 6
- Russia – 6
- Canada – 5
- Great Britain – 5
- Mexico – 4
- Ukraine – 4
- France – 3
- North Korea – 3
- Germany – 2
- Italy – 2
- Malaysia – 2
- United States – 2
- Belarus – 1
- Japan – 1
- South Korea – 1
- Netherlands – 1
References
- OmegaTiming. 16th FINA World Championships Diving Results. Access on August 2 2015.
Road to the Olympics 