Osmar Olvera Adds Another Silver Behind Wang Zongyuan in Men’s 3-Meter
Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment. Osmar Olvera Adds Another Silver Behind Wang Zongyuan in Men’s 3-Meter Osmar Olvera added a second springboard silver medal from the World Championships in Fukuoka this week, finishing second in 3-meter on Thursday. The Mexican international didn’t quite have enough to surmount Wang Zongyuan of China, who augmented his synchro gold with individual gold with a score of 538.10. Olvera could’ve pushed for the top step on the podium if not for a misstep in his second round, but he still scored 507.50 to deny a silver to Long Daoyi, Wang’s synchro partners. Long rounded out the podium in third in 499.75, well ahead of fourth-place Andrew Capobianco of the United States. Olvera did something few divers can say they have at Worlds: He denied the Chinese divers the lead, at least for one round, with the best opening dive of the competition. But he was in catch-up mode thereafter, scoring just 58.50 points in his 205B in the second round, the 11th-best dive of the competition, to drop to seventh. Olvera finished strong, delivered the best dive of both the fifth and sixth rounds, scoring 98.80, then 99.45 points. But the gap to Wang was too big, the Chinese veteran with the top-scoring dive of rounds two through four. Olvera was fifth after three rounds and third after five until his final dive outscored Long, in second place, by eight points to leapfrog him into silver. Capobianco was second after two rounds, but a weak fourth dive dented his medal hopes. He scored 54.00 points on his 207C, dropping him from fourth to seventh, and he had to work hard with 80-point dives in the final two rounds to recover. Rodrigo Deigo Lopez finished fifth for Mexico with Great Britain’s Daniel Goodfellow sixth. American Tyler Downs was ninth. With a 10th gold medal in hand, China is in position to add to the tally in women’s 3-meter springboard. Chen Yiwen and Chang Yani, who combined for synchro gold, came through semifinals in first and second, respectively. Chen scored 363.70 points. Chang tallied 354.75. Japan’s Sayaka Mikami was third, with Pamela Ware of Canada and American Sarah Bacon in pursuit.