Olympic Diving

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Diving has been a part of the Olympics since 1904 in St. Louis. At the Olympics, diving falls under the discipline of Aquatics along with swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo. Along with swimming, it is one of the most popular events at the Games and tickets can be hard to come by.

In 1904, diving at the Olympics involved a platform event called 'fancy high diving' and also an event called 'plunge for distance' event where athletes tried to travel as far as possible under water. Plunge for distance was deemed uninteresting and replaces in 1908 by springboard events. Women began competing in 1912 in the platform event and in 1920 on the springboard. Synchronized diving was introduced in at Sydney 2000 on both the platform and springboard bringing the total number of events up to eight. At the Olympics the springboard height is 3 meters and the platform is 10 meters high.

In Olympic diving, divers are required to perform a set number of dives while performing moves such as somersaults and twists.

Divers are given a score is out of ten which is broken down into three sections: the approach, flight and landing, each worth three points. The last point is available to give the judges flexibility. Divers are judged on their height at the apex of the dive, their body position, pointed toes, feet together at all times, rotations, angle and location then enter the water and the amount of splash their entry into the water leaves. Dives are also given a difficulty rating which is multiplied by the performance score to create an overall score. Divers with the highest scores move onto a final round and medals are awarded from there.

During the flight of the dive there are a variety of positions the diver can take: straight (no bend at knees or hips), pike (knees straight and bent at the hips), tuck (body folded into a ball), and free (when performing twists). Eeach type of dive is identified by a number.

The USA has dominated diving over the years and as of 2008 had won a total of 131 medals with 48 golds. China is fast become a superpower in the sport though and is gaining on the US with strong performances at recent Games. They were only originally allowed to compete in 1984 and since then have garnered a total of 49 medals, 27 of them gold, thanks in large part to their national coach, Liang Boxi. Italy, Australia and Canada also produce quality divers.

Diving is both graceful and extremely difficult and always entertaining and it is one of the most popular events at the Olympics.