Downs and Duncan Place Eighth in 3-Meter Synchro at Olympic Games

PARIS – Greg Duncan (Oakton, Va./West Lafayette, Ind.) and Tyler Downs (Ballwin, Mo./West Lafayette, Ind.) finished eighth in men’s synchronized 3-meter Friday at the Olympic Games.

Downs and Duncan overcame a missed third-round dive to come back and finish with 346.08 points.

China narrowly won its fourth gold of the Games. Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan scored 446.10 to edge the Mexican duo of Osmar Olvera and Juan Celaya by just 2.07 points. Great Britain’s Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding took bronze with 438.15 points.

Downs and Duncan were tied for third after two rounds but a miss on their front 2 ½ with one twist in round three dropped them out of medal contention.

“We go into every competition not having any expectations. It’s not about the result. It’s about the journey. We enjoy the journey so much that we’re able to move on,” Downs said. “It happens. It happens in practice, it happens in competition. Unfortunately it happened here, but what can do except move on and do another dive?”

They bounced back strong with 72.42 points on their inward 3 ½ tuck in the next round and ended with 73.47 points on a front 3 ½ pike.

Both Duncan and Downs appreciated the support of the crowd at the Paris Olympic Aquatic Centre and are excited to support Team USA throughout the rest of the Games.

“When we were standing on the boards and we heard everyone cheering for us, it was the most memorable thing ever,” Duncan said. “To pass that on to the others, it’s the least we can do for the rest of our time here.”

Friday marked the end of synchronized diving events in Paris. Individual events kick off Monday with women’s 10-meter preliminaries and semifinals. Delaney Schnell and Daryn Wright will compete for Team USA.