Juan Celaya & Osmar Olvera Win Silver to Give Mexico Its First-Ever Men’s Synchronized 3M Springboard Medal

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Juan Celaya and Osmar Olvera have made a splash at the 2024 Paris Games.

The 25-year-old Mexican diver and his 20-year-old compatriot have claimed the silver medal in the men’s synchronized 3M springboard to give Mexico their first-ever medal in the event and third medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

In a close and frenetic competition for Olympic glory, Mexico, China and Great Britain took their spirits and emotions to the limit.

After five dives, China’s Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan took the gold with a score of 446.10.

But Olvera and Celaya, who finished with a score of 444.03 points, didn’t make it easy for them and with a “heart-stopping” finish and dives that bordered on perfection, they were 2.07 points away from first place.

In the process, the Mexican diving duo gave Mexico its 16th medal in Olympic diving history (eighth silver). While it’s the first in the synchronized springboard event, it’s the 12th in men’s diving.

Although diving is a very fruitful discipline for the Mexican delegation, they hadn’t won a medal in men’s synchronized diving since the silver won by Germán Sánchez and Iván García at the 2012 London Games.

Celaya and Olvera will now compete individually in the 3-meter springboard diving event.

Sanchez Claims Silver in Men’s Individual 10m Platform Final at the 2016 Rio Games

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

It’s another silver for Germán Sánchez…

The 24-year-old Mexican diver, nicknamed “Duva,” claimed the silver medal in the Men’s Individual 10m Platform diving final at the 2016 Rio Games.

China’s Chen Aisen emerged from a tightly contested field to claim the gold medal with 585.30 points.

Sanchez won the silver with 532.70 points and USA’s David Boudia, the reigning Olympic champion, totaled 525.25 to claim bronze.

The Guadalajara native won his first individual medal at the Olympics following his second-place showing at the 2012 London Games four years ago.

Along with Ivan Garcia, Sanchez won the silver in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform jump at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Espinosa Urging Mexico’s Lawmakers to Fight Childhood Obesity

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Paola Espinosa is encouraging Mexico’s leaders to dive into the issue of the country’s obesity epidemic…

The 26-year-old Mexican diver, who earned a silver medal in synchronized diving at the 2012 London Games, is urging her country’s lawmakers to do more to ensure Mexico no longer leads the world in childhood obesity.

“Pass laws that promote programs so we’re no longer No. 1 in childhood obesity,” Espinosa said this week in a ceremony at the lower house of Congress to honor Mexico’s medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Paralympics.

Obesity currently affects 29 percent of Mexican boys and girls between the ages of five and 11, 30 percent of children aged 12-19 and seven of 10 adults, according to the Health Secretariat.

Also attending the ceremony were divers Iván García, Germán Sánchez and Laura Sánchez and archer Aida Roman, as well as 10 Paralympics’ athletes.

Espinosa and her diving partner Alejandra Orozco won a silver medal in the synchronized 10m platform at the London Games.

Sánchez Claims Mexico’s Third Diving Medal at the London Games

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

The third time’s the charm for Laura Sánchez Soto…

Competing in her third consecutive Olympics, the 26-year-old Mexican diver earned the bronze in the women’s diving 3m springboard final on Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games.

In what turned out to be a close battle for the bronze, Sánchez proved to be thismuch better than Italy’s Tania Cagnotto.

Heading into their final dive, the Italian diver—competing in her fourth Olympics—looked like the odds on favorite to take third place. But Sanchez won over the judges with an exceptional forward 2 1/2 somersault with one twist pike to finish a mere .20 points ahead of Cagnotto.

China’s Wu Minxia won the gold medal, while her countrywoman He Zi won the silver. It was Wu’s record-tying sixth Olympic diving medal.

Meanwhile, Sanchez’s third place finish helped give Mexico its third diving medal at the London Games following silver-earning performances by synchronized diver Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco and German Sanchez and Iván García.

Espinosa & Orozco Win a Silver in Women’s Synchronized Diving

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

It’s almost a case of déjà vu as Mexico’s Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco earn Mexico the country’s second silver medal in diving in two days, after Iván Garcia and Germán Sánchez claimed a similar diving silver on Monday.

Espinosa and her 15-year-old partner put on an impressive display to finish in second place in the Women’s Diving: Synchronized 10m Platform final at the 2012 Olympic Games on Tuesday, July 31—Espinosa’s 26thbirthday.

China’s Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao—the favorites this year—took home the gold with 368.40 points. Espinosa and Orozco scored 343.32 points to earn the silver; and Canada’s Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito won the bronze with 337.62 points.

With her medal-winning performance, Espinosa enters Mexico’s history books as the first woman to win medals at two Olympics. She earned a bronze medal in the same event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing with her partner Tatiana Ortiz.

“It’s a great gift”, said Espinosa of winning a second medal with her new partner Orozco, the youngest athlete to represent Mexico at the 2012 Olympic Games. “It was a great competition for us. We’re very happy with this result and the truth is that we did it very well, we dove very well. Our expectations today were to be on the medal podium and that’s how it was.”

At the start of the competition, the British duo of Sarah Barrow and Tonia Couch surprised the audience with their first two dives and remained behind the Chinese with Espinosa and Orozco ranked seventh.

But in the third round the Mexican divers performed an excellent dive that gave them the maximum qualification (84.48 points) and moved them into second place.

“I realized (of the possibility to win the silver) from the first free dive, that we were already in second,” said Espinosa. “And I felt that we could [medal] because we‘ve trained very well, very strong. I believe Alejandra and I have made a great duo. We communicate very well.”

The Mexican divers remained consistent in the last two dives and ended up with a solid point difference between them and the third place team. Following their fifth and final dive, Espinosa and Orozco hugged tightly knowing they’d done enough to medal.

“It was simply about going dive by dive, laboring as we have done for a long time,” said Orozco, who thanked her partner for the constant “support” and “motivation” she gave her.

Espinosa, competing in her third Olympics after her debut at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, hasn’t ruled out participating at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio of Janeiro.

“If God wants and my body and my mind, now that I am older, permit me, I will continue working for the next Games and be in the fight.”

Sanchez & García Dive Their Way to a Silver Medal

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

They may have gotten off to a sluggish start, but German Sanchez and Iván García threw caution to the wind in the final rounds to capture Mexico’s first medal at the 2012 Olympic Games…

The 20-year-old and 18-year-old Mexican divers went all out on Monday with a very difficult dive and pulled it off to assure the dynamic duo the silver medal in the Men’s Diving: 10-Meter Synchronized Platform final at the London Games.

Garcia and Sanchez earned 468.90 points for second place behind champions Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan of China, who had 486.78. The pair beat out U.S. divers Nicholas McCrory and David Boudia, who ended with a score of 463.47.

The Chinese divers, as well as Great Britain’s Thomas Daley and Peter Waterfield went ahead early in the final, while Sanchez and García found themselves in last place after their first two obligatory dives.

In their third dive, however, the pair moved into fifth place.

That’s when they decided to forget they were competing at the Olympics and visualize themselves alone with their trainer in their gym in Guadalajara. Sanchez and García executed an inward 4 1/2 somersault tuck with a 4.1 degree of difficulty, picking up 95.94 points to vault into second place, with only the Chinese ahead of them.

“We played it because it was the only way to fulfill this dream,” said Sanchez. “We could have failed because we tried something very difficult, but it worked out and here I have the medal.”

The silver medal was Mexico’s first of the London games and 56th overall.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon congratulated Garcia and Sanchez via Twitter.

“Congratulations to German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia, silver medal in 10-meter synchronized … Congratulations!” the president wrote.

The divers also received a shout-out from the governor of their home state of Jalisco, Emilio Gonzalez Marquez.

“Congratulations to @IvanGarciaPollo and to @DiverSanchez for giving Mexico its first silver medal. They are the pride of Jalisco,” the governor tweeted.

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