Divers
Stacie Powell and
Tonia Couch made a little piece of history on Thursday morning (August 21) in Beijing as they both qualified for the final of the individual women’s 10m platform competition, the first time ever that Team GB has been represented by two female divers in an individual Olympic Games final.
Powell left it late to clinch her place in Thursday evening’s final, going into the last round of dives in 13th place, one outside the qualification slots.
But she pulled off a back two-and-a-half somersault with one-and-a-half twists in the pike position – a degree of difficulty of 3.4 – to record a last round score of 62.90 and lift herself to 11th place.
“I knew I had to hold my nerve and pull out all the stops to finish in the top 12,” she said.
“Words cannot explain it. We’ve just made history and we didn’t realise we were doing it. There’s never been two GB women divers in an Olympic final, so I hope this shows how well we are doing.”
Couch, Powell’s partner in the 10m synchro event for which the pair also reached the final at Beijing 2008, qualified in 12th place with a combined score of 297.20.
“I felt I didn’t dive as well as I can,” she said. “I thought I hadn’t made it, so I am delighted to finish 12th.
“We’re just going to go out and enjoy it in the final.”
The women’s 10m platform final takes place from 20:00 on Thursday evening local time (August 21, 13:00 BST).
Go to www.teamgb.com and click on 'Results' to view all the latest Team GB results. Click on 'Team GB' to view profiles of all Team GB athletes.
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