Nearly Toppling the Dream Team’s Reign! Silver Medalists Mexico Diving Duo Vow: Make China Unable to Ignore Us Anymore

In yesterday’s Olympic men’s synchronized 3-meter springboard diving competition, the Chinese pair of Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan took home the gold medal. However, those who watched the match know that this victory came close to being upset, as the impressive Mexican duo of Oscar Orozco and Juan Celaya overtook China’s score at one point, nearly shaking the dominance of China’s diving dream team.

During the fourth dive, Long Daoyi made a slight mistake while Wang Zongyuan performed excellently, bringing China’s total score to 264.66. The Mexican divers seized on this error, overtaking China with a score of 264.90 to take the lead.

As the final dive approached, the tension reached its peak since it would determine the gold medalist, with the difference between gold and silver likely to be razor-thin, leaving no room for error. Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan dived first, opting for a high-difficulty move worth 3.8 points, which they executed flawlessly to score 95.76, bringing their total to 446.1.

The Mexican duo, seeing this, looked grim. As the last to dive, they went all-in, choosing the most difficult dive of the competition, worth 3.9 points, and performed it superbly, scoring 444.03. They ultimately fell short by just 2.07 points, securing the silver medal.

This was different from the usual scenario where China held a commanding lead, well ahead of the second-placed diver by more than ten points. These two young Mexican athletes truly gave China’s dream team a sense of unease. Many Chinese netizens commented, “I was sweating bullets,” “Is the Mexican team that good?” “That was close,” “Why is even diving so tense?” …

Reporting on the match, FOX Sports Mexico used the headline “Nearly Snatched the Gold from China’s Grasp” and even boldly stated that “this Mexican duo could end China’s diving team’s reign in the next Olympics.”

FOX Sports wrote: “Although China took the gold, the faces of the two divers showed intense nervousness—a testament to the Mexicans’ excellent performance, pushing the Chinese pair to their limits.”

“I hope I could see their reaction (the Chinese pair’s reaction after our final dive). Perhaps they realized they are not invincible and alone in their quest. We are right behind them, and it will be the same in the next Olympics. They had better look back because they can no longer ignore us,” said silver medalist Juan Celaya.

Wang Zongyuan, the gold medalist, said, “In fact, during the competition, they also performed at a very high level, which did make us feel nervous and under pressure. In fact, I think this was their best performance this year, which shows that they have indeed been working hard every day in training, dedicating themselves fully. Finally, because we competed against each other well, we were able to improve together, striving together. I’m very grateful to them.”