Vincent Riendeau and Nathan Zsombor-Murray finished fifth in the men’s 10m synchro final on Monday at the Olympic Games.
Riendeau (Beaconsfield, QC) and Zsombor-Murray (Pointe-Claire, QC) finished with a combined score of 405.00.
“We were training very well leading up to this and our only goal was to dive well. We overcame all the challenges and were able to finish strong,” said Zsombor-Murray.
During a training session on July 22, Riendeau lost grip on one of his legs while doing his reverse three-and-a-half, causing him to enter the water at an awkward angle with his back severely arched.
“We are very happy, and relieved. This was a year with a lot of obstacles, and more recently other unexpected obstacles,” Riendeau said. “We are really happy with our performance. It wasn’t perfect but we got a really good score. We did some very good dives and can leave this event with smiles on our faces.”
Riendeau admitted there was some uncertainty as to whether he’d be able to participate in the Tokyo Games.
“Thanks to my therapist, and the benefits of having ten years of experience dealing with various back injuries, I had a long list of exercises I knew that would help me,” Riendeau said. “[Nathan] and my team remained positive, and with that I was able to overcome this challenge. It was difficult, there was pain, but after the second day I was able to do my twists and that was when I felt I was going to be able to still compete.”
Thomas Daley and Matty Lee of Great Britain won gold on Monday with a score of 471.71. China’s Yuan Cao and Aisen Chen took silver with a cumulative score of 470.58 and Aleksandr Bondar and Viktor Minibaev of the ROC won bronze with a score of 439.92.
Riendeau and Zsombor-Murray won bronze in the men’s 10m synchronized event at the FINA Diving World Cup at the Tatsumi Aquatics Centre in Tokyo back in May.
Schedule, Results, Team Information, and Previous Olympic Statistics
- English : https://diving.ca/2020-olympic-games/
- Français : https://diving.ca/2020-olympic-games/
About Diving Plongeon Canada
Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high-performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation in the world. For information, visit www.diving.ca.
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