Schnell, Parratto returning to Olympics in synchronized diving after winning silver in Tokyo

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two more synchronized diving teams claimed their spots for Paris at the U.S. Olympic diving trials on Tuesday night.

Delaney Schnell and Jess Parratto finished first in the women’s 10-meter event, while Tyler Downs and Greg Duncan earned the top position in the men’s 3-meter final.

Schnell and Parratto, silver medalists at the Tokyo Games, easily qualified for another Olympics with 607.14 points on their two lists of dives.

It will be Parratto’s third Olympics and Schnell’s second.

“It was just all of the emotions coming together of the past three years, and just not expecting, honestly, to be where I am right now,” Parratto said. “Going to a third games is just crazy.”

Parratto had planned to retire after Tokyo, but Schnell encouraged her to give it one more go. The team got back together in 2023.

″I was happy to come out of retirement just for synchro because it’s such a fun event,” Parratto said. “I wanted to give it one more shot with Delaney next to me. It was all so perfect.”

Schnell will look to qualify in the individual 10-meter beginning Friday.

“Sports are just where you just have to expect the unexpected,” she said. “For me, it was just a sigh of relief, and now I can go into individual and have a breath of fresh air and stay calm. We already made one event, and I get to relax and breathe.”

Downs and Duncan finished with 811.41 points over two lists of dives to edge Andrew Capobianco and Quinn Henninger by just 2.37 points.

This will be the second Olympics for Downs, while Duncan is a first-time Olympian.

The pair took a 20-point lead into the final round, but Henninger and Capobianco closed out their list with 95.76 points on the high degree of difficulty front 4 1/2 somersaults tuck.

Downs and Duncan responded with 78.12 points on a front 3 1/2 somersaults pike — just enough to remain atop the standings.

“I was just doing my thing,” Downs said. “Obviously, hearing the crowd let us know if we were doing well or not, but I didn’t look at the scoreboard, so I didn’t know where we were or what we needed.”

The divers have a day off Wednesday before the weeklong trials shift to the individual events.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games