LONDON - After going 12 years without winning a medal in a diving event, the United States now has two medals in as many days after Duke's
Nick McCrory paired with David Boudia to take bronze in the men's synchronized 10-meter platform event Monday. McCrory joins fellow Blue Devil
Abby Johnston as an Olympic medalist after Johnston and Kelci Bryant claimed silver in the women's synchronized 3-meter competition on Sunday.
McCrory and Boudia started off their list of six dives Monday with an inward in the pike position for a 2.0 degree of difficulty, scoring 54.60 points, including one 9.5. They then earned five 9.0s from the judges on a back dive, bringing their total score to 108.60 and putting them in third place behind teams from Great Britain and China.
In the third round, McCrory and Boudia moved up to a 3.2 degree of difficulty on an inward 3 ½ somersault, netting 82.56 points. After falling to fourth place after that dive, the American duo scored 92.13 points on a forward 4 ½ somersault for a 3.7 degree of difficulty to move back into third.
McCrory and Boudia's fifth dive, a reverse 3 ½ somersault, was awarded 85.14 points to bring their total to 368.32 and keep them in third with one dive remaining. Great Britain's team of Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield trailed the Americans by just six points heading into the final round, with a spot on the podium hanging in the balance. However, McCrory and Boudia responded under pressure, nailing a back 2 ½ somersault with 2 ½ twists for a score of 95.04 points to bring their total score to 463.47, enough to secure the bronze medal.
China's Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang won the gold with a score of 486.78 points, while Mexico's Ivan Garcia Navarro and German Sanchez Sanchez moved up to take the silver with 468.90 points. Daley and Waterfield of Great Britain finished just off the podium in fourth with a final score of 454.65.
McCrory and Boudia's bronze represents just the second synchronized diving medal ever won by a United States team, with Johnston and Bryant earning the first Sunday on the 3-meter springboard.
McCrory and Johnston's Olympic success under the guidance of Duke diving and U.S. national team coach Drew Johansen has also propelled Duke into the international spotlight. McCrory and Johnston join former Blue Devil Nancy Hogshead in capturing an Olympic medal as a member of the Duke Swimming & Diving program.
The men's synchronized 10-meter competition will be re-aired in primetime Monday evening on NBC.
Meanwhile, McCrory's Olympic journey continues next week, as he vies for a medal in the men's individual 10-meter platform event. The competition begins with a preliminary round on Friday, Aug. 10, and will be followed by the semifinals and finals on Saturday, Aug. 11 at the London Aquatics Centre.
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