Zsombor-Murray advances to semifinals in men’s 10m platform
Nathan Zsombor-Murray finished fifth in the men’s 10m platform prelims on Friday at the Olympic Games, advancing to Saturday’s semifinals.
Rylan Wiens finished 19th behind Korea’s Yeongtaek Kim missing the final qualifying spot by just .10 points. The top 18 divers qualified for the semifinals.
Zsombor-Murray (Pointe-Claire, QC) was seventh after his first dive but moved into second following his second dive – the forward four-and-a-half somersaults. He dropped to fourth following his third dive and wound up in fifth following his sixth dive – the back two-and-a-half somersaults with one-and-a-half twists.
“That was a pretty good prelims,” said Zsombor-Murray. “Other than my fifth dive, I got a little bit distracted on; I’d say it’s one of the best international performances I’ve had to date. Really, I wasn’t that confident going into the competition.”
The 18-year-old, who finished fifth at the World Cup in May at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, finished with a combined score of 443.85 on Friday.
“I think my first two dives really gave me the confidence,” Zsombor-Murray said. “I told myself, ‘OK, you still got it’. So, my first two dives gave me the confidence to keep going, push through, and I just tried to stay calm. It’s important not to blow through all your energy on the first couple of dives and not make it to the semis so I was focusing my energy to preserving my energy.”
(Photo by Vaughn Ridley)
Wiens (Pike Lake, SK), who won a bronze medal in the 10m platform event at the World Cup in May, struggled with his first few dives on Friday. The 19-year-old was 22nd after his first dive – the back two-and-a-half somersaults with one-and-a-half twists. He dropped to 28th after his second dive but moved into a qualifying spot following his fourth dive and maintained the 18th position following his fifth dive.
Following his sixth dive, the reverse three-and—a-half somersaults, Wiens fell to 19th.
“I’m definitely coming back. I’ve got my sights set on 2024, and I’m going to come in more confident, with harder dives and more consistency, hopefully,” Wiens said. “’ll be pushing extra hard after this disappointing result here in Tokyo.”
China’s Jian Yang and Yuan Cao finished first and second in the prelims while Aleksandr Bodnar of the Russian Olympic Committee was third.
Schedule, Results, Team Information, and Previous Olympic Statistics
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