The Spaniards Nicolás García Boissier and Adrián Abadía have won a historic bronze medal in the 3-meter springboard synchronized diving final at the World Swimming Championships, which are being held in Doha, a result that allows them to seal their ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In this way, the Canarian-Balearic duo achieves the first diving medal for Spain in a World Cup, a milestone that also comes accompanied by Olympic qualification, a priori the couple’s main objective in the World Cup event. With a score of 383.28 following six rounds, Abadía and García Boissier managed to finish third in Doha, only behind the Chinese (442.41) and Italian (384.24) pairs and ahead of powers such as Mexico or Gran Brittany.
“We have made history,” declared García Boissier following the test. “This was not part of the plans, we came to look for the Olympic place, that was the objective, and the medal has been an extra. “A tear came to my eyes, because there is a lot of work behind this,” added the Canary Islander. The Spanish couple is already thinking regarding the Paris Olympic Games, a challenge they want to face with moderation and realism: “We know where we are, we are realistic, but we are going to go to Paris to do the same thing we have done here. If that’s enough for us to achieve the same thing, it’s fine, but if not, that’s fine too,” the athlete concluded.
For his part, the coach of the Spanish jumping team, Domenico Rinaldi, was not so surprised by the medal achieved: “We have worked for this and last year the boys came fifth, so I did expect it,” he said with confidence. . Afterwards, the coach also opened the door to dreaming big for the Olympic Games: “We are in the top eight and we have worked very well. Then why not [esperar una medalla olímpica]? In 2004, in Athens, the favorites were China and the United States, and Greece ended up winning,” Rinaldi noted.
The Chinese Zongyuan Wang – who won his 18th consecutive gold medal – and Daoyi Long did not cause any surprise and confirmed their favoritism with the gold medal, while the Italians Lorenzo Marsaglia and Giovanni Tocci took the silver. In the women’s competition, the Spanish Valeria Antolino might only finish in 34th position (224.90 points) in the individual platform. The first objective this Sunday was to make the cut of 18 semifinalists, but a low first jump (36) and a failed third jump – the least difficult of her series – left her practically without options.