A stunning combination of artistic grace and agility, the Olympic diving competition consists of two events the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform for both men and women.
Each country within the international federation may enter up to two athletes per event. A country may qualify two divers per event if both athletes meet an "A" qualifying standards or one diver per event if the diver meets a lower-scored "B" standard. Divers in each event advance from a preliminary round to a semifinal round to the finals.
In the springboard preliminaries, competitors choose their dives from five different groups: forward group, back group, reverse group, inward group and twisting group. Men perform six dives and women perform five dives without a level of difficulty. The top 18 divers then advance to the semifinals, where they perform five dives with a maximum total degree of difficulty of 9.5. Scores from the preliminary round are added to the diver's semifinal score with the top 12 divers advancing to the finals. Once in the finals, the men perform six optional dives without level of difficulty while the women perform five optional dives without level of difficulty. The scores of the semifinal round are then added to the results of the final round to determine the final standings.
In the platform competition, divers may choose from the same group of dives as in the springboard with the addition of the armstand group. Men perform six optional dives and women perform five optional dives from the different groups without a limit of degree of difficulty. Like the springboard competition, the top 12 divers advance to the semifinals where divers perform four more dives with a maximum total degree of difficulty of 7.6. The scores of the preliminaries and semifinals are added together with the top 12 divers advancing to the finals. Once again performing dives without a maximum level of degree of difficulty, men in the finals take six optional dives while the women perform five more dives.
The semifinal rounds consist of dives with a degree of difficulty of 9.5, while the preliminaries and finals consist of dives without a difficulty limit. Following the preliminaries the top 18 divers advance to the semifinals. Scores from the preliminary round are then added to the divers semifinal score with the top 12 divers advancing to the finals. In the event of a tie for the 18th place in the preliminaries or the 12th place in the semifinals, all divers tied advance to the next rounds.
Divers may chose from 88 different dives in the springboard competition and 96 in the platform. All dives can be categorized into five groups in the springboard competition and six in the platform.
Forward Group The diver faces the front of the board and rotates toward the water. Dives in this group range from the simple front dive to the difficult 3 1/2 somersault.
Backward Group All dives in the backward group begin with divers on the end of the board with back to the water. The direction of rotation is away from the board.
Reverse Group Formerly called "gainers, " these dives begin with the diver facing the front of the board (using a forward approach) and rotating toward the board.
Inward Group The diver stands on the end of the board with back to the water and rotates toward the board, opposite of the backward group's movement. The earlier term for these divers were "cutaways."
Twisting Group Any dive with a twist is included in this group. There are five types of twisting dives: forward, backward, reverse, inward and armstand. Because of the many possible combinations, this group includes more dives than any other.
Armstand Group Available only in the platform competition, armstand dives begin with the diver assuming a motionless handstand position on the edge of the platform before executing the dive.
When each type of dive is performed, the diver utilizes one or more of the four different body positions.
Straight This position requires no bend at the waist or knees. Arm placement is defined by the dive performed.
Pike The legs are straight with the body bent at the waist. Like the straight position, arm placement is dictated by the particular dive.
Tuck Body is bent at the waist and knees, with thighs drawn to the chest and heels kept close to the buttocks.
Free This is not an actual body position, but a diver's option to use any of the other three positions, or combinations thereof, when performing a twisting dive.
Each dive is assigned a degree of difficulty ranging from 1.3 for a relatively simple forward dive to a 3.6 for the extremely difficult forward four and one-half somersault.
Following each dive, seven judges score the dive on a scale of 0 through 10 in half-point increments:
After eliminating the highest and lowest scores to prevent any perceived scoring bias, the five remaining scores are added together and the sum is then multiplied by the degree of difficulty. The resulting number is then multiplied by .6 to produce the final score for the dive.
As in all judged sports, diving provides the competitors with an intangible scoring opportunity through personality and style. During the competition, several divers may do exactly the same dive, but it never looks quite the same. Divers can inspire cheers from the spectators and high point totals from the judges with their own unique styles and movements. Because style is a matter of personal preference rather than concrete codes, it can be very difficult to judge diving. As a result, coaches, competitors, judges and spectators will always have room to debate the scoring of a dive.
Judges analyze and evaluate each portion of a dive before awarding an overall score.
Approach should be smooth but forceful, showing good form.
Takeoff must show control and balance, plus the proper angle of elevation for the particular dive being attempted.
Elevation the amount of spring or lift a diver receives from the takeoff greatly affects the appearance of the dive. Since more height means more time in the air, a higher dive generally affords greater accuracy and smoothness of movement.
Execution the actual performance of the dive. A judge watches for proper mechanical precision, technique, form and grace.
Entry the last thing the judge sees and the part of the dive probably remembered best. The angle of entry into the water should be vertical and should produce very little splash. Called the "rip" by divers, a properly executed entry produces little splash and makes a sound similar to the ripping of a sheet of paper.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for
the Olympic Games Sports Publication Department. Written by Howard
Thomas.
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