It’s been less than five days since the women of the Great Britain diving team broke a 64-year medals drought in the 3m springboard, and the GB 10m diving pair were determined to solidify the end of that streak with their synchronised competition.
Lois Toulson and Andrea Spendolini Sirieix took to the 10 metre platform, first amongst seven other teams, to compete to be the first female British pair to win a 10m medal.
Diving first may seem like a daunting prospect for many but the pair seemed unphased by the pressure as they led off the other pairs from Mexico, China, France, DPR Korea, Canada, USA, and Ukraine.
China were the favourites going into the competition, having collected every gold since the event debut at the Sydney 2000 games. That still left five other teams realistically contesting for potential podium places, including the USA, who won silver in Tokyo.
With every team, except France and Ukraine, performing the same dives, everything would come down to execution and the synchronisation of the pairs.
Round One
Team Great Britain led off the first of two rounds of required dives. While they were looking to open strong with a score over fifty, their back dive in pike scored 48.60 out of a possible 60.
By comparison the pair from China, who were predicted to finish at least ten points ahead of the field, scored a 56.40 for the same dive.
However, it was Canada who leapfrogged into second. The pair of Caeli Mckay and Kate Miller have only been together since May 2023, but had already placed sixth in the world this year.
USA found themselves in eighth place after putting 46.20 on the board for their opening dive.
By the end of the first round China had placed themselves firmly in gold medal position, their score seven points ahead of Canada in second.
The rest of the field remained tight, with only 0.60 separating Team GB from the nations on either side of their third place position. In total only three points stood between second and last place.
Round Two
The second round held a reverse dive in pike for the British pair, earning them an identical score to round one of 48.60. While the pair looked strong, a little more splash and some over-rotation from Toulson saw them still shy of the golden fifty point aim.
A back dive in pike saw previous Tokyo bronze medalists Mexico slide down the table while China once again kept their splash to a minimum. A host of nine, nine, nine scores were declared throughout the Aquatics Centre, giving them a total of 111, just nine points shy of the maximum possible.
France looked happy with their performance as they watched their replay, showing strong synchronisation. The least experienced in the field, the pair consisted of Jade Gillet and Emily Hallifax, who only took up diving at the beginning of last year.
Canada found themselves taking different angles of entry into the water, throwing water in opposite directions. This error allowed Team GB to move more solidly into second, while China maintained an overall fourteen point lead.
Round Three
The introduction of the optional diving rounds are always set to make the competition interesting, especially in such a tight field as this one.
Six out of the eight nations were set to perform the same dives in the same order, leveling the field and making every mark of execution and synchronisation really count.
A forward 3 1/2 somersaults in pike saw a big splash from Spendolini Sirieix after the pair lost synchronisation on their spin speed. With a collection of sevens from the judges, they still managed a total of 60.30.
With the gaps between pairs already small, Mexico flag bearer Alejandra Orozco Loza and her partner Gabriela Agundez Garcia answered with a strong 67.20 which closed the gap even more.
However, it was the teenage pair from China who had the crowd chanting and cheering in the middle of the competition. 18-year-old Yuxi Chen and 17-year-old Hongchan Quan posted the biggest score so far of 80.10 to prove themselves in a class of their own.
Meanwhile from France a knock of the platform from the feet of Hallifax left hrem with 53.76, despite matching well.
Previous world silver medallists DPR Korea scored 69.30 with a satisfying synchronisation, a score which was quickly matched by Canada who took second place. While DPR Korea tied with Mexico in third, Team GB sat in fifth, only five points out from a medal position.
Round Four
This was the hardest dive for Great Britain – an inward 3 1/2 somersaults in tuck with a 3.2 difficulty.
Scoring a 69.12, the execution remained near flawless for both Toulson and Spendolini Sirieix, while it was their synchronisation that saw them giving away valuable points.
Mexico, with the exact same dive, produced the opposite result. An ill-afforded error saw them produce good synchronisation but over-rotation on the execution. With a score of 62.40 and the medals being contested with as little as five points, every point truly made the difference.
As had become expected throughout the competition, China entered the water with very little splash.
By comparison, their dive, the same inward 3 1/2 as five out of the seven other pairs, scored at 85.44, double digits ahead all the other nations.
Sadly the pressure of the penultimate round saw a huge error from France. Halliway entered the water with almost a complete backbend. Scoring just a 2.5 on execution, the pairs entry for the round was just 37.80.
DPR Korea were the other pair to break the seventy mark with a beautiful dive, putting them ahead of Canada in third. Still five points away from the podium, Team GB climbed up into fourth while China widened their lead to more than fifty points.
Round Five
With so little between the points, it was now or never for the British pair. It was their last chance to rise to the occasion and they certainly did.
With a beautiful answer to the medal challenge, they kicked up very little splash from their back 2 1/2 somersaults, 1 1/2 twists in pike.
Fellow diver, and Toulson’s partner, Jack Laugher was seen cheering in the crowd as they scored 77.76 for a competition total of 304.38.
Mexico needed almost eighty to answer GB’s challenge but feel short, only posting 72.96.
But it was China who remained in a class of their own. With a huge score of 82.56, they finished with a 359 point total which catapulted them to 55 points clear of all other teams.
The competition for a medal position was far from over though.
France fell short of vertical again, an issue which had plagued their competition. Whilst they finished in eight place, it was still an effort to be proud of from the inexperienced pair.
DPR Korea needed 66.24 to take GB’s silver medal place and having showed consistency throughout the competition, their final dive showed no fear, scoring 77.76 to solidify themselves into silver.
Proving they weren’t going to get complacent, Toulson and Spendolini Sirieix stood and watched the final dive for the team most likely to steal their bronze position.
Canada required 73.32 to take their place. It was too close to call until the official scores were announced but with some spin speed issues, Canada only managed 68.16.
While it wasn’t impossible, it was highly unlikely that GB would be caught by the American’s. With hugs and tears, including from Laugher in the crowd, Toulson and Spendolini Sirieix finally hugged in relief. The joy showed on their faces as they let themselves believe the bronze medal was theirs.
With two teams left to go, USA’s Jessica Parratto, who had previously retired from diving but was persuaded back by her teammate Delaney Schnell, took to the platform. With a big splash in their final dive, USA found themselves in overall sixth, elliciting a jumping celebrating from Spendolini Sirieix poolside.
Previous European champions Ukraine also had a less than strong finish, landing them in seventh place overall, below the final positions for Canada and Mexico.
Another Historic Ending For The Women of Team GB
Spendolini Sirieix, who is still only nineteen, seemed unphased by the history she had just solidified for the women’s diving team at these games. Within moments of her medal confirmation, she had hugs and handshakes for the other divers.
This will be her second Olympics, whilst it is Toulson’s third. Their bronze medal winning score of 304.38 out scored their second place finish in the world cup in Canada earlier this year by 3 points.
Their medal will be the first ever won by a women’s synchro pair on the 10m platform, and will join the bronze won by Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen in breaking the 64-year drought of medals in British women’s diving.
It will also join the silver medal won by Tom Daley and Noah Williams in the same event for the men, for a total of three out of a possible three medals for the GB diving team so far.
Speaking to BBC’s Sarah Mulkerrins after their medal ceremony, Spendolini Sirieix said of her teammate:
‘I’ve grown so much as a person alongside her, not just an athlete.’
Despite being stoic on the podium, the tears flowed as the reality of having an historic medal around their necks set in. With both women periodically welling up, Spendolini Sirieix explained their mentality after the third round error that she described as an ‘oops’:
‘Never back down, never what. If anyone could do it, it would be us.’
She said they told themselves:
‘Be strong. Be courageous. Go for it. Just throw yourself off.’
Both women also paid tribute to their families who had supported them, including Spendolini Sirieix’s father, Fred Sirieix. Standing alongside the BBC sports reporting team he declared it had been a ‘roller coaster’.
Both women will now be looking to qualify for the 10m platform individual medals later in the games.
