Olympic Diving 2012: Men's 3-Meter Springboard Results, Analysis and More

Asia is in shock.

On the ninth day of the 2012 Olympic diving action, world champion three-meter spring board diver He Chong was upset by his Russian rival, Ilya Zakharov. But not only that, He was also outscored by his own teammate, Qin Kai, who had previously been in He’s shadow in the competition.

While He managed to win bronze, his failure to take the gold is still a major surprise.

Before Tuesday, China had won five diving gold medals. This time around, it’ll be forced to settle for silver and bronze.

Here are the medal winners, final standings and a recap of Tuesday's most memorable performances.

Medal Winners

Medal	Name	Country	Score
Gold	Ilya Zakharov	Russia	555.90
Silver	Qin Kai	China	541.75
Bronze	He Chong	China	524.15

Final Standings

Place	Name	Country	Score
1	Ilya Zakharov	Russia	555.90
2	Qin Kai	China	541.75
3	He Chong	China	524.15
4	Patrick Hausding	Germany	505.55
5	Troy Dumais	USA	498.35
6	Yahel Castillo	Mexico	492.70
7	Ethan Warren	Great Britain	488.95
8	Illya Kvasha	Ukraine	462.25
9	Chris Mears	Great Britain	439.75
10	Ken Nee Yeoh	Malaysia	437.54
11	Alexandre Despatie	Canada	413.35
12	Javier Illana Garcia	Spain	371.60

Full results can also be found at NBCOlympics.com.

Best Performance: Ilya Kakharov

Following his silver-medal performance at the 2011 World Championship, Ilya Zakharov became an instant favorite to medal on the three-meter springboard in London. And after recording a 505.60 in the semifinals of the event—the second-highest score in the round—he looked well on his way to fulfilling those expectations.

Those expectations weren’t for gold, though.

According to bet365, Zakharov was a 5-1 underdog to finish first in the event. Of course, odds are set to be shattered.

Zakahrov’s medal hopes came down to his final dive in which he came up in the clutch. He scored a heroic 104.5 in the forward 4 1/2 somersault to clinch gold.

Next-Best Performance: Qin Kai

Beth Harris of The Associated Press reported that, recording a solid score of 500.35 to take third in the semis, Qin Kai wasn’t content with his performance. He said (via Yahoo! Sports):

“I did just so-so. I was upset because I slipped during the preliminary, so I only wanted to make it into the final.”

He did just that and he left with a result that even he couldn’t have been expecting.

At the 2011 World Championship, Qin just missed winning a medal as he finished in fourth place. According to bet365, he had 7-to-1 odds to win gold on Tuesday. While he didn’t beat those odds, he managed to outscore his teammate, He Chong, who had won gold on the three-meter springboard at Worlds, by almost 20 points.

Most-Disappointing Performance: He Chong

Just as his teammate wasn’t impressed with himself in the semifinals, He Chong sang the same tune—literally. He said (via Yahoo! Sports):

“My performance is just so-so. I still have room to improve for the final because I can do much better in training. I especially hope I can have less splash.”

While Qin improved in the final, He can’t say the same.

In the semifinals, He blew away the field in the semis with a score of 510.15. His performance was almost five points higher than Zakharov, who finished second.

After winning gold in the 2011 World Championships and dominating early in London, He was the heavy favorite going in to the final, pegged as a 2/7 favorite by bet365.

His brutal start on the back 2 1/2 somersault ended up costing him. Judges dealt him a crushing score of 72.0, and despite strong dives later in the competition, he was just in too deep to bounce back.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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