Olympic Diving Preview: Women’s 10m Synchro Will Be A Fight To The Finish

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Photo Courtesy: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

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Headed into the fourth day of competition the American women are set to make their diving debut in synchronized platform. Amy Cozad and Jessica Parratto will compete against teams from Mexico, Brazil, China, Malaysia, North Korea, Canada, and Great Britain.

At the last Olympics Chinese divers won the gold, and Chen Ruolin will be returning with her new partner Liu Huixia to defend her medal. Mexico’s 2012 silver medalists, Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco, and Canada’s 2012 Bronze medalists, Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, will also compete in Rio with the hopes of back to back podium performances. The Americans did not qualify a team for this event in London.

Cozad and Parratto finished fourth at the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup earlier this year where they also got a feel for the Olympic field. At the World Cup the Chinese took first, the Malaysian team took second, and Great Britain took third.

Liu and Chen were the Chinese World Cup team, have continued onto the Olympics, and are the clear favorites. Cheong Jun Hoong competed for Malaysia in the World Cup but is headed to the Olympics with a different parter, Pandelela Rinong. Tonia Couch of Great Britain is also going to Rio with a different parter than her world cup teammate.

Based off of the Chinese team’s previous performances in international competition they will secure the gold medal. It will be a battle for the silver and bronze medal spots. Second and Third could be easily be occupied by the American, British, or Malaysian teams. The Mexican and Canadian teams will not go down without a solid fight either.

Synchro is a particularly interesting and exciting event because anything can happen. All it takes is a slip from one diver, or a single missed entry to completely rearrange the standings on the board. In reality, the event’s medals could go home with any of these teams.

The women are is set to start at 3pm ET, and will be televised at 8pm ET along with swimming and gymnastics.

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