Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray Advance to Olympic Semi-Finals

Montréal, August 9, 2024 – Last week’s bronze medallists in the synchronized diving event at the Paris Games, Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray, successfully pursued their Olympic quest on Friday, qualifying for the semi-finals of the men’s individual 10-metre platform event.

Wiens obtained Canada’s best score of the day with 485.25 points, finishing third in the qualifiers. China’s Yuan Cao (500.15 points) and Japan’s Rikuto Tamai (497.15 points) were the only divers to outperform the Saskatchewan native, who now has big hopes for his final event in Paris.

“I’m trying to stay in the same headspace I was in for the synchronized event, to try and win another medal. [. . .] At the Olympics, anything can happen, so I wanted to come here with a solid list of dives right from the start, while also staying focused on my next rounds,” said Wiens, as he exited the water.

Although the 22-year-old diver admits that winning the bronze medal in synchronized diving with Zsombor-Murray was very exciting, he quickly turned his attention to his upcoming objective, but without putting any additional pressure on himself.

“Honestly, after the synchronized event, we only had a day or two to absorb it, and then we had to start focusing on the individual competition,” he explained. “It was completely different, and it gave me a lot of confidence, but not necessarily extra pressure. I’m very excited to be competing in this event, and I’m going to give it my all until the very end!”

Zsombor-Murray came out of today’s preliminary rounds in tenth place, with 407.20 points. “Overall, it was enough to get me into the semi-finals, but it certainly wasn’t my best performance ever,” admitted the Québécois, who is nevertheless proud that he was able to regain ground following a difficult second dive.

“I messed up my second dive, but I managed to stay focused on my subsequent ones. I’ve done a lot of mental training in that sense, to be able to stay focused on the competition regardless of what happens. [. . .] I don’t want my thoughts about my preceding dive—whether it was good or bad—to influence me. You can’t let yourself get caught up in that, and I’m happy with my performance,” he concluded.

The top eighteen athletes from today’s preliminaries will return to the 10-metre platform on Saturday morning to compete in the semi-finals. Their objective will be to finish among the top twelve, who will then move on to the big final, scheduled a few hours later at the Olympic Aquatic Centre.