Boudia Puts USA Diving Back On The Map

LONDON – After a less-than-stellar preliminary round that left him dead last before Saturday morning’s 10m platform diving semifinal, American David Boudia got out of bed and acted like it never happened.

“I actually woke up and it almost felt like I was dreaming the night before,” Boudia said. “Like it didn’t really happen. It was a brand new day. The sun came up and I was diving first.”

Boudia moved up to third after the semifinal round to boost his confidence. After Saturday night’s final, he thought he was still dreaming.

Only he was very much awake. Boudia became an Olympic gold medalist.

“This is unbelievable right now. I still can’t believe I’m an Olympic champion,” said Boudia moments after receiving his shiny, 10m platform gold medal. “Wow. I’m speechless right now.”

Words were not necessary. Boudia’s performance said everything.

The 23-year-old out-shined Great Britain’s Tom Daley, the hometown boy who finished third, and pre-competition favorite QIU Bo of China to win. Boudia finished just under two points ahead of Qiu and almost 12 better than Daley in the final rankings.

Each of the 12 divers in the competition turned in impressive scores throughout the night and it came down to the final round, when Boudia was nearly flawless in executing a back 2 ½ somersault, 2 ½ twists in the pike position. The dive earned him 9s and 9.5s across the board. Qiu responded with the exact same dive and recorded similar scores, but his average was 9.3; Boudia’s was 9.5.

The last American diver to earn a medal entering London was Laura Wilkinson at the 2000 Sydney Olympics (gold, 10m platform). The last American male to do it was the late Mark Lenzi, who finished third in the 3m springboard at the 1996 Olympics.

The last American male to earn 10m platform gold was Greg Louganis in 1988. Lenzi was the last American male to win any diving event, the 3m springboard in 1992.

“It was special,” said Wilkinson, who is in London working for NBC Olympics. “It reminded me of Sydney a little bit, the feeling of the environment and where it was going. It was just awesome to see somebody else step up and do that. It was special to be a part of that moment in the arena.”

Boudia’s night nearly got off to a rocky start. After Daley’s first dive went slightly awry, he and his coach appealed for a re-do after someone at the arena used flash photography. The judges approved, which sent Daley back up to the tower. Boudia, who was perched 10 meters up ready to dive, had to climb back down to the 5m platform to wait. It could have rattled him.

Turns out it didn’t, as Boudia tallied 97.20 points on his back armstand double somersault 2 ½ twists in the free position.

USA Diving ended these Olympics with three synchronized medals – one silver and two bronze – and Boudia’s gold.

“Ending this drought is the epitome of what hard work and planning does,” Boudia said. “Just taking the focus off wanting all these medals and putting the focus on how we compete. That’s just been the main goal.”

In anyone’s book, and especially USA Diving’s, four medals is a rousing success.

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