Diving at the Summer Olympics

Diving was first introduced in the official programme of the Summer Olympic Games at the 1904 Games of St. Louis and has been an Olympic sport since. It was known as "fancy diving"[1] for the acrobatic stunts performed by divers during the dive (such as somersaults and twists). This discipline of Aquatics, along with swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo, is regulated and supervised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA), the international federation (IF) for aquatic sports.

Diving at the Summer Olympics
IOC CodeDIV
Governing bodyWorld Aquatics
Events8 (men: 4; women: 4)
Summer Olympics

Summary

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Games Year Events Best Nation
1
2
3 1904 2   United States (1)
4 1908 2   Germany (1)
  Sweden (1)
5 1912 4   Sweden (2)
6
7 1920 5   United States (2)
8 1924 5   United States (3)
9 1928 4   United States (4)
10 1932 4   United States (5)
11 1936 4   United States (6)
12
13
14 1948 4   United States (7)
15 1952 4   United States (8)
16 1956 4   United States (9)
17 1960 4   United States (10)
18 1964 4   United States (11)
19 1968 4   United States (12)
20 1972 4   Italy (1)
  United States (13)
21 1976 4   United States (14)
22 1980 4   Soviet Union (1)
23 1984 4   United States (15)
24 1988 4   China (1)
25 1992 4   China (2)
26 1996 4   China (3)
27 2000 8   China (4)
28 2004 8   China (5)
29 2008 8   China (6)
30 2012 8   China (7)
31 2016 8   China (8)
32 2020 8   China (9)
33 2024 8   China (10)

History

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The first Olympic diving events were contested by men and consisted of a platform diving event ("fancy high diving") and also a plunge for distance event, which heralded victorious the diver who could reach the farthest underwater, while remaining motionless after a ground-level standing dive. At the 1908 Summer Olympics, men's springboard diving was added to the program replacing the plunge for distance, regarded as uninteresting.[2] Women's diving debut happened at the 1912 Summer Olympics in the platform event and was expanded to springboard diving at the 1920 Summer Olympics. A parallel platform diving event for men, called "plain high diving", was presented at the Games of the V Olympiad. No acrobatic moves were allowed, only a simple straight dive off the platform.[3] It was last contested at the 1924 Summer Olympics after which it was merged with "fancy high diving" into one competition renamed "highboard diving" (or just "high diving").[4]

By the time of the 1996 Summer Olympics, the diving events were exactly the same as in 1928 (2 men's and 2 women's events). However, four years later in Sydney, the inclusion of a synchronized diving variant for the springboard and platform events elevated the list up to eight events (4 men's and 4 women's events).

Another important change to the sport occurred at the 1984 Summer Olympics, when China first competed, after boycotting the previous games due to the political status of Taiwan.[5] China has become the dominant diving power and accumulated 55 gold medals since 1984.

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Chinese divers swept all of the available events, winning a record eight gold medals. The Chinese team also surpassed United States at the all-time medal tally after this edition of the games.

Medal table

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Total medal count 1904–2024:[6]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  China55261192
2  United States494746142
3  Sweden68721
4  Russia48618
5  Soviet Union44614
6  Italy35311
7  Australia34815
8  United Team of Germany3104
9  Germany281222
10  Great Britain241218
11  East Germany2237
12  Mexico18817
13  Canada15915
14  Czechoslovakia1102
15  Denmark1012
16  Greece1001
17  Unified Team0213
18  Egypt0112
  Malaysia0112
  North Korea0112
21  France0101
  Japan0101
23  Ukraine0022
24  ROC (ROC)0011
Totals (24 entries)138138139415

Events

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Men's

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Women's

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Nations

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The numbers in each cell indicate the number of divers that nation sent to that Games.

Nation 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 Years
  Argentina (ARG)     1 1 1 2 1 5
  Armenia (ARM)     2 1 2
  Australasia (ANZ)     1 1
  Australia (AUS)     1 1 1 1 1 2 10 4 2 2 3 4 3 4 5 7 7 6 7 9 10 9 7 23
  Austria (AUT)     1 3 2 2 3 4 4 1 2 4 1 4 2 3 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 1 22
  Azerbaijan (AZE)     1 1 2
  Bahamas (BAH)     1 1
  Barbados (BAR)     1 1
  Belarus (BLR)     5 2 3 4 2 2 6
  Belgium (BEL)     1 3 2 1 1 1 6
  Bermuda (BER)     1 2 1 3
  Bolivia (BOL)     1 1
  Brazil (BRA)     1 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 4 3 9 4 16
  Bulgaria (BUL)     2 1 1 3
  Canada (CAN)     1 2 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 3 4 8 9 7 6 8 6 7 6 10 9 6 10 23
  Chile (CHI)     1 2 2
  China (CHN)     8 8 8 7 8 10 10 12 13 16 10
  Chinese Taipei (TPE)     2 4 2
  Colombia (COL)     1 1 3 2 2 1 3 2 4 3 10
  Costa Rica (CRC)     1 1
  Croatia (CRO)     1 1
  Cuba (CUB)     1 2 2 6 6 5 3 7
  Czech Republic (CZE)     1 1
  Czechoslovakia (TCH)     2 2 3 1 1 1 1 2 8
  Denmark (DEN)     5 4 1 1 2 3 2 1 2 2 1 11
  Dominican Republic (DOM)     1 2 3 1 4
  East Germany (GDR)     5 7 7 9 4 6
  Ecuador (ECU)     1 1 2
  Egypt (EGY)     2 4 4 4 3 1 4 4 3 9
  Finland (FIN)     2 6 3 6 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 18
  France (FRA)     1 12 4 1 2 5 4 2 4 3 2 1 1 2 2 1 6 1 2 5 3 3 22
  Georgia (GEO)     2 1 2
  Germany (GER)     3 5 4 9 2 11 4 6 7 8 10 14 8 8 9 15
  Great Britain (GBR)     16 3 5 11 7 6 11 9 5 7 6 5 8 4 6 6 5 4 5 8 7 10 12 11 12 25
  Greece (GRE)     1 1 5 8 1 1 6
  Guatemala (GUA)     1 1
  Hong Kong (HKG)     2 2 1 1 4
  Hungary (HUN)     2 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 4 3 2 2 1 16
  India (IND)     2 1
  Indonesia (INA)     1 3 2
  Iran (IRI)     1 1
  Ireland (IRL)     1 1 2 3
  Israel (ISR)     1 1 2
  Italy (ITA)     1 1 1 1 3 3 1 5 3 4 2 4 1 2 4 3 2 5 6 8 8 8 6 23
  Jamaica (JAM)     1 1 1 3
  Japan (JPN)     1 1 4 5 2 4 5 9 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 1 2 2 1 3 11 20
  Kazakhstan (KAZ)     5 5 2
  Kuwait (KUW)     2 1 2 1 2 5
  Malaysia (MAS)     3 3 4 9 6 5 6
  Mexico (MEX)     1 5 1 4 5 3 4 3 6 4 5 6 6 3 8 5 7 5 7 10 9 14 22
  Netherlands (NED)     4 7 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 13
  New Zealand (NZL)     1 3 1 1 1 5
  North Korea (PRK)     4 3 5 3 3 3 2 7
  Norway (NOR)     3 4 3 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 11
  Peru (PER)     1 1 2
  Philippines (PHI)     2 2 2
  Poland (POL)     1 5 3 2 1 1 6
  Portugal (POR)     1 1
  Puerto Rico (PUR)     1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 8
  Rhodesia (RHO)     1 3 2
  Romania (ROU)     3 3 4 3 3 1 2 7
  Russia (RUS)     7 7 9 10 7 8 6
  Russian Empire (RU1)     1 1
  Singapore (SGP)     2 1
  South Africa (RSA)     1 1 1 1 1 1 2 7
  South Korea (KOR)     1 3 2 1 2 4 4 1 2 1 5 11
  Soviet Union (URS)     11 11 7 12 10 9 11 12 8 9
  Spain (ESP)     3 2 3 3 2 2 3 5 5 4 2 2 2 13
  Sri Lanka (SRI)     1 1 2
  Sweden (SWE)     10 34 12 11 8 1 3 3 4 2 4 2 1 2 3 2 2 2 1 3 1 1 2 2 1 25
  Switzerland (SUI)     1 1 1 3 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 14
  Syria (SYR)     1 1 2
  Tajikistan (TJK)     2 1
  Thailand (THA)     1 2 2 3
  Turkey (TUR)     1 1
  Ukraine (UKR)     6 9 8 9 9 7 6 7
  Unified Team (EUN)     7 1
  United States (USA)     7 2 2 14 10 9 9 10 7 11 9 5 12 11 8 11 7 7 7 8 7 10 12 11 10 11 26
  United Team of Germany (EUA)     7 9 2
  Uruguay (URU)     1 1
  Venezuela (VEN)     1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 3 2 1 11
  West Germany (FRG)     8 9 4 4 6 6
  Yugoslavia (YUG)     1 2 2
  Zimbabwe (ZIM)     3 2 1 2 1 1 6
Nations     2 9 10 14 14 18 9 21 21 21 16 24 21 23 25 22 21 29 31 30 40 42 30 29 25 28 30 82
Divers     10 39 57 53 71 61 28 69 62 72 59 74 82 83 90 82 67 80 81 95 121 157 125 136 136 135 144  
Year 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Aquatics – Diving". Sports. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
  2. ^ Bill Bryson. "A City Under Starter's Orders". Olympics 2000 Sydney. The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 2007-04-01. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
  3. ^ "Aquatics – Diving". Summer Sports. Australian Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
  4. ^ "Diving". The Sports Yellow Pages!!. ThinkQuest. Archived from the original on 2005-11-04. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
  5. ^ Wren, Christopher S. (9 January 1984). "'84 Olympic Effort a Great Leap Forward for China". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-01-31.

References

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