There are too many dives to choose from when it comes to finding a Top 10 – the ones we choose are just a few amazing examples of technical skill and the thrill of watching an athlete nail it. …
1. Matthew Mitcham making the highest diving score in Olympic history: Mitcham has several extremely high scores to his name but this one takes the cake.
2. Laura Wilkinson’s 307c at the 2008 Olympic Diving Trials: Needing to bounce back from a less-than-perfect dive, Wilkinson earned incredibly high scores for this super smooth dive.
3. Greg Louganis’ Comeback at 1988 Olympics: we can’t pick a favorite dive, can you? Louganis needed to recover from lost points as well as a head injury and performed several springboard dives so clean that he won gold, a moment still referenced today as an amazing piece of Olympic history.
4. Yang Jian earning the world record for highest score for one dive: Jang’s outstanding performance of this difficult dive brings the crowd to its feet.
Click PLAY or watch Jian Yang on YouTube.
5. Bo Qiu’s 4th dive in the London 2012 Semi-Finals: another example of one of the highest scores in history!
6. Tom Daley at Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010: Daley is another athlete with many great dives to his name, this is just one example.
7. Wu Minxia wins gold in the 3M springboard at London 2012 Olympics: Wu Minxia is the first woman to win a gold medal in diving in three consecutive Olympic Games – you can see why here.
8. David Boudia’s 10M platform at London 2012 Olympics: it’s hard to choose a favorite dive by Boudia, but this was the first Team USA gold on the event since Greg Louganis’ in 1988.
9. Pat McCormick nails her final dive to take home gold in 1956: McCormick made a name for herself by executing dives that were banned for female divers as well as other rebellious moves, so her wins weren’t just great dives but also groundbreaking for the sport.
10. Greece’s Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis win gold for the host nation in the 2004 Athens Olympics: this team’s performance earned them the gold in their home town. That’s got to be a great feeling and it’s great to watch, too.
– Hayley Wolfcale on behalf of Speedo
If you want to see the rest of those dives, open the Word document below. Click on the links.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 