Team GB cause a stir with first Paris Olympics medal after diving drama | Paris 2024 Olympics

A lavish Chinese procession, an epic Australian choke and a first medal of the 2024 Olympics for Team GB. On a spectacular opening morning at the Aquatics Centre, Scarlett Mew Jensen and Yasmin Harper won bronze in the women’s 3m springboard synchronised event, proving one of the oldest truisms in sport. It takes talent, training, dedication and resilience. But sometimes you need a little luck too.

Luck wasn’t exactly on the side of the Chinese pair Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen, unbeaten at world level since 2022, who won by more than 23 points. In an event where the entry standards are dizzyingly high, where each competitor is refined and accomplished in ways we can barely imagine, the Chinese still gave the impression of competing on a different plane: they don’t so much dive into the water as in the water, retreating into the pool as if guided by a computer.

But for Mew Jensen and Harper, who were in fourth place heading into the final round, a fiery dive was followed by an agonizing wait. China took gold, American pair Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook took silver. Australia, represented by Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith, finished third clear. A half-successful final dive, the two-and-a-half front somersaults with a twist, earned them a medal.

But as they made their final jump, Smith slipped on the corner of the board and flew sideways, spinning and landing with all the grace of a crash-test dummy thrown out a second-floor window. The dream was over; four years of hard work exploded in a mighty splash, and afterward, Smith—who had come into this competition with a reputation as the more reliable of the two—was completely inconsolable.

“We knew that even if we had a good game, we were still going to be in trouble,” Mew Jensen said. “We knew Australia had to make a mistake, basically. So we were pretty shocked to see that happen because it’s a very easy dive for them. They’re very talented, very experienced.”

“Seeing them not get it done in the last round, I knew right away it wasn’t good enough,” said Harper, who turns 24 on Sunday and will compete in the individual competition on Aug. 7. “It’s a dream come true. And it’s everything we’ve worked for.”

For most of the competition, it looked as though the two men on the British team were going to fail. They nailed their first effort, a simple back dive, which put them in second place. But Harper over-rotated on their third effort – the same dive that would later topple the Australians – leaving them in sixth place, behind not only Australia but also Germany and Italy.

But both women have been through much tougher waters. Mew Jensen, from Tower Hamlets, was knocked out of the Tokyo Games three years ago and, a few months later, was plunged into mourning after her coach David Jenkins died of sudden adult death syndrome. He was just 31.

Now working with coach Jane Figueiredo and with the help of extensive therapy sessions, she has fought her way to the pinnacle of the sport that first captured her imagination more than a decade ago, when she could hear the roar of the Olympic stadium from her living room.

Harper trains at Ponds Forge in Sheffield under coach Tom Owens and took up the sport relatively late – at 14 – after giving up gymnastics. Mew Jensen recalls a junior competition where Harper hit the board during training and came out of the pool with her entire shin covered in blood. After receiving generous bandages, she was back on the board and won.

The two competitors competed together as juniors before officially forming a team in 2022. A silver medal at the world championships in Fukuoka last year was followed by a bronze in Doha in February. And yet, despite outperforming their scores at both championships, for much of the morning they looked out of the running. As they emerged from the pool after their final dive, they looked defiant but dejected, aware that they needed a miracle. To their delight, and that of the millions watching at home, it happened.