“The corruption starting nice and early” - Fans left fuming after China wins gold in women's synchronized diving at Paris Olympics & USA wins silver

The first diving medals at the Paris Olympics have just been awarded, but some fans expressed their disappointment at the results. In the women's synchronized 3M springboard event, China walked away with gold, while USA settled for silver, an outcome that left many audiences claiming partiality in scoring.

China came into this event as the heavy favorite for the win, having walked away with gold in the last five Olympics. The team’s divers, Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen were certainly impressive, taking the lead from the very first dive, a back dive in a piked position that scored a 52.80.

From there, the Chinese duo went on to post the highest numbers in all remaining four dives, scoring a 51 for their reverse dive, a 77.40 for their inward 2 ½ somersaults, a 79.98 for their forward 3 ½ somersaults, and finally, a 76.50 for their forward 2 ½ somersaults with 1 twist.

However, fans were left disgruntled at the scoring, alleging that judges had been partial towards Chang and Chen in the assessment of their synchronization. One fan took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote,

“The judging for the Chinese in comparison to the rest of the field in the diving is scandalous. At least 2 dives the USA pair have been better synchronized but somehow scored lower for synchronicity. The corruption starting nice and early in this Olympics.”

Another fan joined the conversation to claim that the US team deserved the gold, writing,

“I'm no synchronized diving judge but I’m sure the USA have performed better than China to this point #Fix.”

Here is how other fans reacted to the alleged bias in scoring towards the Chinese at the Paris Olympics:

“There's got to be some looking into fixing for the synchronised diving here. Chinese team are getting some ridiculously generous scoring,” one fan commented.

“Just asking, in the synchronized diving event were the Chinese divers required to enter the water at the same time?” one diving enthusiast wondered.

“Do I just not understand synchronized diving or ??? bc both the USA and GB dives looked more synchronized than china? 😭😭😭,” one X user asked.

“Chinese have been out of sync a couple of times and have the highest scores each time!! USA had a better synchro dive 3rd round than the Chinese and got a lower score!!!,” yet another chimed in.

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Paris Olympics 2024: USA and Great Britain round out women's synchronized 3M springboard podium

Women's 3M springboard diving medalists at the Paris Olympics (Source: Getty)

While fans may not be happy with it, in the end, it was the Chinese who walked away with gold with a total score of 337.68. Behind them, Team USA's Sarah Bacon and Cassidy Cook, nicknamed ‘Bacon’N’Cook’ by fans, walked away with their score of 314.64.

Their best performance came on their fourth dive, a forward 3 1⁄2 somersaults, where they scored a 72.54. This marks Team USA’s first medal at the Paris Olympics.

Behind them, Great Britain walked away with a surprise bronze medal, after Australia fumbled on their last dive. The duo of Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith needed only a score of 58.68 to finish third, but a mistimed five saw them skip to fifth after a score of 48.6.

Post this, Britain's Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jenson clambered onto the podium for the bronze, making them the nation’s first-ever Olympic medalists in the event.