Mexican Divers Win Olympic Silver in Synchronized Diving

Divers Osmar Olvera and Juan Manuel Celaya wrote their names in the history books of Mexican sports by joining the list of Olympic medalists, after climbing the podium with the silver medal in the synchronized diving event from the springboard in Paris 2024, with a score of 444.03, in a competition held at the Aquatic Center of the French capital.

On their way to the podium, Olvera and Celaya posted partial times of 49.80 (201B), 46.80 (301B), 82.62 (5154B), 85.68 (407C), 84.36 (109C) and 94.77 (5156B), to climb to second place on the podium in what was the first medal for Mexico in its record in this event since synchronized diving was incorporated into the competitive calendar in the 2000 Sydney edition.

The gold medal went to the Chinese pair of Daoyi Long and Zongyuan Wang, with 446.10 points, while the bronze went to the British duo of Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher, who accumulated 438.15 points.

The second place in the 3-meter synchronized diving by Osmar Olvera and Juan Manuel Celaya represented the 16th Olympic medal for Mexico in diving (the discipline that has brought the most podiums to the country), as well as the eighth silver in this discipline and the 76th in the total of all sports.

In five of the six rounds of the competition, Olvera and Celaya remained in the medal zone, including first place in the penultimate round, in addition to obtaining the best scores of the entire competition in a couple of series: two and a half turns in front with two twists in the third and three and a half turns inside in the fourth; a situation that led to the definition of the competition until the last execution, with just a little more than two points difference regarding the Chinese duo.

Olvera and Celaya, who have their training base at the National Center for the Development of Sports Talents and High Performance (CNAR), brought the country its third medal so far in the Parisian competition, after the bronze in the women's archery team event with Alejandra Valencia, Ana Paula Vázquez and Ángela Ruiz, as well as the silver in judo, -63 kilogram division, with Prisca Awiti.

There are no secrets, hard work is the key to achieving what we set out to do

After having made his debut as an Olympic medalist, the diver Osmar Olvera stressed that the silver medal obtained in the synchronized diving event from the springboard with Juan Manuel Celaya, is only the fruit of constant preparation and discipline to achieve the set goals.

"There are no secrets, I believe that hard work is the key to achieving anything, not only in diving. We train every day with that dream, and we achieved it,” said Olvera Ibarra, who highlighted the preparation he did at the National Center for Development of Sports Talents and High Performance with Celaya and his coach Ma Jin.

“It was a very strong preparation after the last World Cup in China, we tried to improve those small details that make the difference, I think we both did incredibly to work on our synchronization, the work paid off, and I am happy with this preparation we had at the CNAR and with all the institutions that supported us,” added the diver from the capital.

Furthermore, Olvera, barely 20 years old, thanked the Mexican fans who kept up with his competition despite the time difference and hopes that his performance in the pits will also serve as a source of inspiration for the next generations of divers in the country, just as he was motivated in the same way.

“I still remember watching the Olympic Games on TV in 2012, seeing Mexicans win medals and saying ‘I can do it too’, so I hope that now we have managed to motivate more children with us, to dream big and to know that they come true if you fight for them every day,” he said.

For his part, Juan Manuel Celaya, thanked the opportunity to join the work team of coach Ma Jin and to enhance his preparation that he was already doing individually with a view to both the Olympic Games and the next cycle.

“We have been working for this medal for a long time, it did not happen overnight, even though I was not in the Central American Games, Pan American Games and World Championships, I continued working and concentrated on what I know how to do,” Celaya said.

“We are very happy with how we executed the dives, we were beside ourselves with excitement, I had achieved my objective, which was to dive headfirst six times and do well, so then fate continued its course and if it was our turn, great,” he concluded.