Great Britain had not won an Olympic medal in women’s diving since 1960. The British team had not won an award on the opening day of the Games since 2004.
However, Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen defied history in the Paris pool on Saturday to win a sparkling bronze – and they did it with a little help from their Australian friends.
The British pair came fourth in the fifth and final round of synchronised diving on the three-metre springboard. Their only hope of a medal was if Australia made a mess of their last attempt. And boy did they.
In Ashes terms, it was Nathan Lyon who fumbled and failed to get the better of Jack Leach at Headingley in 2019. In diving terms, it was a calamity.
Anabelle Smith’s right foot slipped on the side of the diving board as she took off, sending her somersaulting in the opposite direction to synchronised partner Maddison Keeney, clocking a disastrous 45.48 to finish in fifth place, when they only needed 58.68 to overtake the British team and claim the final podium spot.
Yasmin Harper (left) and Scarlett Mew Jensen (right) won bronze in the women’s 3m synchronised diving
It gave Team GB their first medal at the Paris Olympics, having not won one on the first official day since 2004.
The two enjoyed the moment on a glorious morning for the British diving team.
China took the gold medal while the United States finished ahead of Team Great Britain in the silver medal position.
It was a historic morning for Harper and Mew Jensen, who claimed Team GB’s first medal in women’s diving in 64 years.
“I screamed underwater,” admitted a dejected Smith, who cried into a towel as she climbed out of the pool. But there were tears and screams of a different kind for the British team duo when they realised what had just happened.
“We knew Australia had to do something wrong,” Mew Jensen said. “We were really surprised that it happened because it’s such an easy jump for them. It’s crazy. I can’t believe it right now. It’s a dream come true.”
Mew Jensen started diving with Harper early last year after her previous synchronised swimming partner Desharne Bent-Ashmeil suffered an injury. But within months, they won a silver medal together at the World Championships and backed it up with another world bronze in February this year.
Her success at the inaugural Paris 2024 show jumping event was all the more remarkable considering Mew Jensen had just recovered from a broken back.
“About three months ago I broke my back,” revealed Mew Jensen, who finished 22nd in her individual event at Tokyo 2020. “I didn’t think coming here was going to be possible. I did my first rehearsal for this just a month ago. But I’m back and we couldn’t have had a better result.”
Mew Jensen and Harper weren’t just in sync on the diving board, they also had matching nails: a Union Jack on their thumbs, plus colorful 3D designs on their fingers, including gems.
“Yaz is the nail technician,” Mew Jensen revealed of something that has become her ritual at every competition. “She’s very, very talented. She brought her own machine and everything. Yazzy B’s salon.”
For all their brilliance, the British pair were off the mark with their jumps early on. The judges penalised excessive rotation going into the third round and placed them sixth. But they recovered well with two jumps of over 70 that kept the pressure on the Australians.
Tom Daley was seen knitting in the crowd, as he did in Tokyo, but he gave his full attention
The final product? A wool sweater with the name “Daley” knitted into the back.
And after their rivals choked, Mew Jensen and Harper became the first British women to win an Olympic diving medal since Elizabeth Ferris on the same 3m springboard 64 years ago.
“It’s been a bit strange that the girls haven’t gotten a medal in so many years,” said Harper, who celebrates her 24th birthday on Sunday. “So today we wanted to show what we can do. To get the first medal in so long in women’s diving is incredible.”
It was also in diving that the British team last won a medal on the opening day of an Olympic Games, thanks to Pete Waterfield and Leon Taylor, who was present at the Aquatics Centre as a commentator for the BBC on Saturday.
“It’s really cool that it’s within the same sport,” Harper added. “I’m from Sheffield Diving and Leon is too, so that’s great as well. To be able to say we’re the first medallists of the Games is an amazing feeling.”