Palmer, Hernandez Head To Finals in Women's 3m Springboard Diving

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Americans Krysta Palmer and Hailey Hernandez are on to the finals in the women’s 3m springboard diving competition.

The two first-time Olympians competed Saturday in the semifinals and had to finish in the top 12 of 18 to move on to the finals.

Palmer, who is currently diving with a torn ACL, came out of prelims in 15th. Her first dive was strong and earned 66 points, but after her second and third dive, she was sitting in 19th place and outside of finals qualification.

She came through with a solid fourth dive worth 65.10 and solidified her spot in the finals with a 59.5 on her fifth and final dive. She finished with a total score of 279.10 to catapult her into fifth place.

Hailey Hernandez, the youngest diver in the competition, came out of prelims in sixth. However, the 18-year-old started off semifinal competition with ground to cover after her first dive put her in 16th place.

Over the course of the next four dives, Hernandez worked her way up the leaderboard and secured her spot in the finals with a beautiful fifth dive, worth 58.5 points. She finished the day in 10th with 291.60 points.

Palmer and Hernandez will have their work cut out for them if they want to medal in the event, though. Reigning Olympic gold medalist Tingmao Shi of China has dominated the competition so far, finishing in first after the semifinals with a score of 371.45. Her countrywoman Han Wang sits behind her in second with 346.85 points. The pair has already won gold in the women’s 3m synchronized springboard event.

The United States hasn’t medaled in the women’s 3m individual springboard competition since 1988, when Kelly McCormick won bronze. The 1988 Olympics also marked the beginning of the Chinese women’s domination in the event as they have won every gold medal since and stand to make it nine straight in Tokyo.

The finals of the women’s 3m springboard will take place on Sunday, Aug. 1, at 2 a.m. ET.

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