Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen won Team GB’s first medal of Paris 2024 with a dramatic bronze in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard final on the first morning of the Games.
The pair were fourth ahead of the final round of dives but scored 70.68 to set the target for rivals Australia to beat.
However, Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith made a mistake and could only score 48.60, bumping Team GB to third for their first opening-day medal in 20 years and first women's diving medal in 64 years.
"I'm very much lost for words," said Mew Jensen. "A month ago I didn't think I would be here as I got a back fracture.
"So to be up on the boards and come away with [bronze], I can't imagine anything better."
"We're so excited and so pleased with ourselves," added Harper. "We came into this event knowing [a medal] is what we want but we had to stand on the boards and deliver. I'm so proud we were able to do that.
Read more: Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen's secret weapon to diving success
"Every time before we dive, we have a word with each other not to rush and we decided to put our hardest dive last to give ourselves an advantage and it went well."
Harper and Mew Jensen only formed as a pair last year but have since exploded onto the springboard scene.
They have two World Championship medals, including bronze in Doha earlier this year, and arrived in Paris with the expectation of another global medal.
However, it appeared they would miss out on the biggest stage of all in a high-quality final despite scoring better than they did in either of those World Championships.
HERE WE GO!
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 27, 2024
Our FIRST medal of #Paris2024! 🥉 pic.twitter.com/PEsc3st8IC
China’s Yani Chang and Yiwen Chen were in a class of their own and raced to win gold, while USA’s Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook were safe in second.
The fight for bronze was an open slugfest and came down to the barest of margins. Harper, who turns 24 on Sunday, and Mew Jensen started well and were second after the first round thanks to a 49.80 score for an opening back dive.
They fell to third in round two and then to sixth in round three after scoring just 71.10 for the high-difficulty inward ½ somersaults with pike.
But they rebounded with scores of 72.54 and then 70.20 to win bronze.
Sportsbeat 2024