Mexican diver Osmar Olvera won Mexico its fourth medal in the Paris Olympics on Thursday, earning a bronze in the 3-meter men’s springboard competition. Last Saturday, Olvera teamed up with Juan Celaya to claim a silver medal in the 10-meter men’s synchronized diving event.
Another Mexican diver and Olympic debutante, Alejandra Estudillo, remains in the running for a medal. Estudillo, 19, qualified for the finals of the women’s 3-meter springboard competition after finishing in fifth place in the semifinal round on Thursday. She’ll go for the gold on Friday.
Olvera, 20, joins the legendary Joaquín Capilla as the only Mexican divers to win two medals in the same Olympic Games. Olvera has a chance to add another medal beginning Friday when the individual 10-meter platform competition begins.
Capilla, who won four Olympic medals in his career, claimed a gold (10-meter platform) and a bronze (3-meter springboard) at the 1956 Melbourne Games. Capilla also won a silver at the 1952 Games in Helsinki and another bronze at the 1948 Games in London, both in the 10-meter platform event.
Olvera earned a total of 500.40 points for his six dives in the finals, finishing 43.20 points behind China’s Siyi Xie, who defended his Olympic title from Tokyo three years ago. Siyi’s teammate Zongyuan Wang completed the podium, replicating the silver medal he won at the Tokyo Games with a score of 530.20 points.
A Mexico City native, as was Capilla, Olvera was the youngest diver on Mexico’s diving team at the Tokyo Games. He then went on to win two silver medals (1-meter springboard and 3-meter springboard) at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
¡EN EL LIBRO DE RÉCORDS! 🇲🇽
Dos mexicanos ganaron dos medallas en una misma edición de los #JuegosOlímpicos
Joaquín Capilla en Melbourne 1956
🥇 Plataforma 10m
🥉 Trampolín 3m68 años después…
Osmar Olvera en #Paris2024
🥈 Sincronizados Trampolín 3m
🥉 Trampolín 3m pic.twitter.com/ttrKDNyoRX— Los Juegos Olímpicos (@juegosolimpicos) August 8, 2024
This post shows video footage from Joaquín Capilla’s diving performance at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.
Olvera followed that up with three gold medals (1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and 3-meter synchronized) at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Olvera warmed up for the Olympics by earning a gold medal (1-meter springboard) and a bronze (3-meter springboard) at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, in February.
With his triumph in Thursday’s 3-meter springboard competition, Olvera has become the fifth Mexican to win multiple medals at a single Olympics. Olvera joins Humberto Mariles (two golds and a bronze in equestrian events) and Rubén Uriza (a gold and a silver in equestrian events) who medaled at the 1948 London Games, Capilla and Raúl González (a gold and a silver in race walking) who starred at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Mexican athletes have won more Olympic medals in diving than in any other event. With the two medals earned in Paris, Mexican divers have now won 17 Olympic medals.
With reports from El Economista and Aristegui Noticias
