- 0GOLD
- 0SILVER
- 2BRONZE
Pan American GamesSantiago 2023Medal Tracker
SANTIAGO, Chile – Jack Ryan was not happy with his seventh-place finish on 1-meter at the Pan American Games.
Two days later, he was all smiles after a bronze-medal performance on 3-meter.
Ryan came through with 435.35 points for bronze in Monday’s 3-meter final, which was dominated by Mexico’s Osmar Olvera with 536.15 points. Colombia’s Luis Felipe Uribe scored 444.25 points for silver.
“I’m exhausted, but I’m over the moon. I’m so happy,” said Ryan.
Olvera had all but locked up gold at the halfway point, leading by 48.1 points after three rounds. He ultimately didn’t need to do his final dive.
But silver and bronze were still up for grabs. Ryan was right in the mix in second place after three dives, with just 8.30 points separating second from fourth.
I knew it after round four. After my gainer, I realized I had pretty much hit four dives in a row. Once I knew I hit four dives in a row, I thought this might be getting pretty serious.
Ryan started off with 79.90 points on a front 2 ½ with two twists and then followed up with 66.50 points on a front 4 ½ tuck before earning 72 points on his back 2 ½ pike.
Then in round four, he put down a reverse 3 ½ tuck that scored 82.25 points. It was then that Ryan thought a medal might be a possibility.
“I knew it after round four, I think. After my gainer, I realized I had pretty much hit four dives in a row. The front is a new dive for me, so 6.5s on that was a hit,” Ryan said. “Once I knew I hit four dives in a row, I thought this might be getting pretty serious.”
Ryan followed up with 61.20 points on an inward 3 ½ tuck and closed out his list with 73.50 points on a reverse 1 ½ with 3 ½ twists to grab the bronze medal.
After Saturday’s performance on 1-meter, when misses on his front and inward dives knocked him out of the medal hunt, Ryan talked to coach Patrick Jeffrey and turned the disappointment into a positive.
“I just took a day to brush it all off and change gears and go from 1-meter to 3-meter. I was going over on fronts and inwards on 1-meter, which we turned into a positive so that when we add a flip on 3-meter those kickouts are going to be straight up and down,” Ryan said. “We took all the missed dives and kept the positives, and we turned all the misses into hits.”
Tyler Downs also competed on 3-meter and finished sixth with 384.40 points, highlighted by a reverse 3 ½ tuck that scored 80.50 points.
Diving at the Pan American Games continues through Wednesday, October 25. Ryan and Downs will pair up in Tuesday’s men’s synchronized 3-meter contest, and Hailey Hernandez and Krysta Palmer are set to dive in the individual women’s 3-meter event.