Sport

Ireland’s Oliver Dingley nails final dive to make Olympic final

Score of 73.10 helped 23-year-old to finish ninth in semi-finals

Ireland’s Oliver Dingley in action during the semi-finals of the Men’s 3m Springboard at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Ireland’s Oliver Dingley in action during the semi-finals of the Men’s 3m Springboard at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Tue Aug 16 2016 - 17:30

Oliver Dingley nailed his final semi-final dive in Rio on Tuesday morning to claim a place in tonight's final of the 3m springboard (10pm Irish time)

The 23-year-old Harrogate-born diver became the first Irish diver to make an Olympic Final with a spectacular score of 73.10 with a back 2½ somersaults 1½ twists pushing him to an overall score of 414.25.

That left Dingley in ninth position, with 12 divers taking place in tonight’s final.

Completing the same set of six dives as he did in the preliminary round, but in a different order, Dingley showed impressive form throughout the two-hour competition.

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A score of 69.75 and 73.10 saw Dingley sit comfortably in 10th after two dives. A shout from the crowd as he completed his third dive distracted the Irishman, but he was allowed to re-do that dive due to the interference, putting up a score of 64.50 for 13th place.

Dingley dived back into the finals places with a fourth round 64.50 to put him 12th. He had scored just 44 points in his fifth dive on Monday night, but a much improved execution of the reverse 2½ somersaults saw him score 67.50 points to put him 10th and 27 points ahead of the 13th place competitor.

As he did yesterday, Dingley saved his best dive for last, nailing the back 2½ somersaults 1 ½ twists for 73.10 points and a place in the final.

China's Yuan Cao held the top spot once again with 489.10 points, while London 2012 Olympic Gold medallist Ilia Zakharov of Russia failed to progress finishing in 18th place.