Gk About Sports : Diving

“Jumping in water from a platform or springboard”
Competitive Diving :
Most diving competitions consist of three disciplines: 1m and 3m springboards, and the platform. Competitive athletes are divided by gender, and often by age group. In platform events, competitors are allowed to perform their dives on either the five, seven and a half (generally just called seven) or ten meter towers. In major diving meets, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships, platform diving is from the 10 meter height.
Synchronized Diving
Synchronized diving was adopted as an Olympic sport in 2000. Two divers form a team and perform dives simultaneously. The dives are usually identical; however, sometimes the dives may be opposites, in what is called a pinwheel. In these events, the diving is judged both on the quality of execution and the synchronicity – in timing of take-off and entry, height and forward travel.

Important Terms used are :

  1. Approach – first steps of divers
  2. Hurdle – last step towards the edge of the board
  3. Pike Dive- The diver bends at the hips
  4. Standing Start – standing poised at the edge of the platform
  5. Straight Dive- Diving with the body straight
  6. Tuck Dive- the diver draws his knees towards his chest

Governing Body of Diving : Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) , which is the International Federation (IF) recognized by the International Olympic Committee for administering international competition in the aquatic sports. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Winners of Diving medals at 2008 Olympics:
Men – 10 metre platform –
Gold- Matthew Mitcham (AUS)
Silver- Zhou Luxin (CHN)
Bronze Gleb Galperin (RUS

Men 3 meter Springboard
Gold- He Chong (CHN)
Silver- Alexandre Despatie (CAN)
Bronze- Qin Kai (CHN)

Men – Synchronized 10 metre platform
Gold – Lin Yue and Huo Liang (CHN)
Silver- Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein (GER)
Bronze- Gleb Galperin and Dmitriy Dobroskok (RUS)

Men Synchronized 3 metre springboard
Gold- Wang Feng and Qin Kai (CHN)
Silver- Dmitri Sautin and Yuriy Kunakov (RUS)
Bronze- Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR)

Women – 10 metre platform
Chen Ruolin (CHN) Emilie Heymans (CAN) Wang Xin (CHN)

Women 3 meter Springboard
Guo Jingjing (CHN) Yuliya Pakhalina (RUS) Wu Minxia (CHN)

Women – Synchronized 10 metre platform
Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin (CHN)
Briony Cole and Melissa Wu (AUS)
Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz (MEX)

Women Synchronized 3 metre springboard
Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia (CHN)
Yuliya Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdniakova (RUS)
Ditte Kotzian and Heike Fischer (GER)


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