Five of the six disciplines included in the twentieth edition of the World Aquatics World Championships are Olympic. One of them, that of diving, found a very special event in Fukuoka 2023 because it was the first qualifying instance in which a total of 60 Olympic places were awarded between the eight trampoline and platform events of 3 and 10 m., both individual and synchronized in both genres.
The overwhelming supremacy of China in one of the many sports that has been state politics since the 80s was confirmed once again: 12 of the 13 gold medals remained in its possession. Last year, in Budapest, it was 13 out of 13. In Tokyo, seven out of eight. Wang Zongyuan improved his achievements compared to the last Olympic Games when he was crowned in both individual and synchronized trampolines.
The only golden outsider, on the men’s 10-meter platform, was the Australian Cassiel Rousseau, who showed a double notable evolution: one in relation to Tokyo 2021, where he finished eighth, and the other in the World Cup itself, because after the first jump of the final he was in ninth place. After dedicating himself to relegating four-time champion Lian Junjie to second place, Rousseau suggested that “anyone can become a world champion”.
The parity of a batch of countries in a second step far below the Asian giant was manifested in the final medal table: 10 countries distributed the 20 medals that China could not win, all of them with a ticket to Paris as a bow except for one. Since France, third in the men’s synchronized trampoline, already had its place guaranteed as host, the place was won by the Americans Tyler Downs and Greg Duncan, who took fourth place.
Mexico, which stepped very hard on the prefectural pool, won six medals with a peculiarity: four silver medals, the same number as in the previous 19 cumulative world championships. At the age of 19, Osmar Olvera Ibarra, the youngest diver in the Tokyo 2021 delegation, broke all odds by finishing runner-up on the 1 and 3 meter trampoline.
The winning cycles of young Italians Matteo Santoro and Chiara Pellacani continued in southern Japan with the bronze medal won on the 3-meter synchronized mixed trampoline, a non-Olympic specialty. At 16 and 20 years old, they have already taken the podium at the World Championships for the elderly, juniors, European Games and European Championships.
In addition to the 3-meter synchronized mixed trampoline, the competitions that were present in the Japanese program but will be absent in the French program are the men’s and women’s 1-meter trampoline, the 10-meter synchronized mixed platform and the team one. The most immediate qualifying competition for the Saint-Denis Aquatic Center is the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. The Doha World Championships, in February 2024, will also have tickets up for grabs.
The other sport in which Fukuoka 2023 completed its Olympic qualifications is open water swimming. Swimming and water polo will hand out their tickets during this last week of competition.
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