Not since 1960 had Great Britain won an Olympic medal in women’s diving. Not since 2004 had Team GB claimed a gong on the opening day of the Games.
Yet Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen defied history in the Paris pool on Saturday to win a brilliant bronze – and it came with a little help from their Australian friends.
The British pair were fourth going into the fifth and final round of dives in the synchronised three-metre springboard final. Their only hope of getting amongst the medals was if Australia made an almighty hash of their last attempt. And boy, did they.
In Ashes terms, it was Nathan Lyon fumbling the ball to miss running out Jack Leach at Headingley in 2019. In diving terms, it was a calamity.
Anabelle Smith’s right foot slipped on the side of the springboard as she took off. It caused her to somersault off in the opposite direction to her synchronised partner Maddison Keeney, scoring them a disastrous 45.48 to finish fifth, when they only needed 58.68 to overtake Team GB and claim the final podium place.
Yasmin Harper (left) and Scarlett Mew Jensen (right) claimed bronze in the women’s 3m synchronised diving
It handed Team GB their first medal of the Paris Olympics, having not won one on the official first day since 2004
The two soaked in the moment on a glorious morning for the British diving set-up
China took the gold medal while the USA finished ahead of Team GB in the silver medal slot
It was a history-making morning for Harper and Mew Jensen, picking up Team GB’s first medal in women’s diving in 64 years
‘I screamed underwater,’ admitted a dejected Smith, who cried into a towel as she climbed out of the pool. But there were tears and screams of a different kind for the Team GB duo as it dawned on them what had just happened.
‘We knew that Australia needed to mess up,’ said Mew Jensen. ‘For that to actually happen, we were very shocked because that’s a very easy dive for them. It’s crazy. I don’t think I can quite believe it right now. It’s a dream come true.’
Mew Jensen only started diving with Harper early last year after her previous synchro partner Desharne Bent-Ashmeil suffered an injury. But within months, they had won a silver together at the World Championships, and backed it up with another world bronze in February this year.
Their success in the opening diving event of Paris 2024 was even more remarkable given Mew Jensen had only just recovered from a broken back.
‘About three months ago I got a back fracture,’ revealed Mew Jensen, who finished 22nd in her individual event at Tokyo 2020. ‘I didn’t think coming here was going to be possible. I only did my first rehearsal for this a month ago. But I’ve come back and we couldn’t have had a better outcome.’
Mew Jensen and Harper were not just in sync on the springboard, either. They also had matching nails – a Union Jack on their thumbs, plus colourful 3D art on their fingers, including gems.
‘Yaz is the nail technician,’ revealed Mew Jensen about something that has become their ritual at each competition. ‘She’s very, very talented. She brought her own machine and everything. Salon de Yazzy B.’
For all of their sparkle, the British pair did not nail their dives early on. An over-rotation on entry in their third round was penalised by the judges and put them down in sixth. But they recovered well with two 70-plus dives to keep the pressure on the Aussies.
Tom Daley was spotted knitting in the crowd – as he did in Tokyo – but paid full attention
His end product? A woolly jumper with the name ‘Daley’ knitted onto the back
And after their rivals choked, Mew Jensen and Harper became the first British females to win an Olympic diving medal since Elizabeth Ferris on the same 3m springboard 64 years ago.
‘It’s been a bit of a thing that the girls haven’t had a medal in so many years,’ said Harper, who celebrates her 24th birthday on Sunday. ‘So coming in today we really wanted to show what we can do. To come away with the first medal in so long in women’s diving is incredible.’
It was also in diving that Team GB last won a medal on the opening day of an Olympics, via Pete Waterfield and Leon Taylor, who was aptly at the Aquatics Centre on BBC commentary duty on Saturday.
‘It’s really cool that it’s within the same sport,’ added Harper. ‘I am from Sheffield Diving and so is Leon, so that is pretty cool too. To be able to say that we are the first medallists of the Games feels amazing.’
