China confirmed their dominance in the pool – or rather in the air – as the FINA Diving World Cup, which doubled up as the sport’s Rio 2016 test event, came to an end on Wednesday (24 February) night. The six-day compeition at the renovated Olympic venue, the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre in Barra Olympic Park, featured more than 200 of the world’s finest divers as the final 88 places at the Rio 2016 Games were decided.

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The event was also crucial for Games organisers, with staff from 36 Rio 2016 departments assisted by 462 volunteers as all operations related to the competition, services provided to athletes and officials, security and athlete accommodation were tested to an Olympic level. And FINA, aquatic sport’s world governing body, was pleased with the results.  

“I would give it a mark of 8.5, because it’s very difficult to get a 10 in diving,” said FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu. “There are a few small things still to be done, such as a bit of painting, before the venue stages the Olympic Games.”

“The organising committee did a fantastic job and the divers are happy. And if the divers are, then we are too”

Cornel Marculescu

China's Qiu Bo took the final gold medal, in the individual 10m platform event on Wednesday (Photo: Alexandre Loureiro/Rio 2016)

China has dominated diving in recent years, winning six of the eight golds available at the London 2012 Olympic Games, and taking silver in the other two contests. They continued that form at the test event, taking six golds and one silver (in the men’s synchronsied 3m springboard). They only failed to reach the podium in the men’s individual 3m springboard, the event which produced the story of the competition, the qualification of Yona Knight-Wisdom, who admitted he was shocked to win silver and become the first male Jamaican diver to qualify for the Olympic Games.

"From a dream to the realization of that dream and more" Jamaican diver Yona Knight-Wisdom (photo by Gabriel Heusi) pic.twitter.com/Cbu9MJoHIp

— Team Jamaica (@JamaicaOlympics) 24 de fevereiro de 2016

The best dive of the event went to China’s Ren Qian, who scored a perfect 10 on her way to gold in the women’s individual 10m platform on Sunday, a day after turning 15. The youngster remained modest and utterly professional afterwards, saying: “I only did my best and what I do in training.”

See the full results from the FINA Diving World Cup

Qian Ren delighted the crowds with a perfect 10 on her way to gold (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)

British diving superstar Tom Daley did not compete in the individual 10m platform, instead focusing on winning a place for his nation in the only Olympic event they had yet to qualify for, synchronised 10m platform. Daley and his new partner Dan Goodfellow pulled it off, finishing third behind Chinese world champion duo Chen Aisen and Lin Yue and Germany’s Patrick Hausding and Sacha Klein on Sunday. Daley, 21, will compete in his third Olympic Games in Rio and he later admitted he is starting to feel a little old. However, he clearly had a good time in the Cidade Maravilhosa, as this video on his YouTube channel shows:

Road to Rio

As well as being a test event, the World Cup was the biggest qualifying event for the Olympic Games, with 88 places up for grabs. While FINA will wait to confirm the individual places, the synchronised qualifiers for Rio 2016 are as follows (qualifiers for World Cup in bold)

Women’s synchronised 10m platform: Brazil, China, Canada, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Great Britain, USA, Mexico
Women’s synchronised 3m springboard: Brazil, China, Canada, Australia, Italy, Malaysia, Great Britain, Germany
Men’s synchronised 10m platform: Brazil, China, Russia, USA, Ukraine, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico
Men’s synchronised 3m springboard: Brazil, China, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, USA, Mexico

Follow the race to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Athletes’ approval

With large crowds cheering them on, especially at the weekend, the competitors declared themselves happy with the venue in Barra Olympic Park, the main venue cluster. “I loved the venue, I liked competing in the open air,” said Australia’s Maddison Keeney, who finished fourth in the women’s 3m springboard.“Everyone in Brazil is very friendly and I can’t wait to return in August (for the Olympic Games).” 

New drone video takes viewers inside Barra Olympic Park

When not competing, the divers enjoyed the hot summer sun in Rio de Janeiro (Photo: Rio 2016/Alexandre Loureiro)

One of the issues experienced during the test event that will be corrected for the Olympic Games concerned the power supply. With the tropical storms that affected the city, a common occurrence in the summer months, the area around the venue and some parts of the venue itself suffered from temporary power cuts. For the Games, new generators will be used, as opposed to those currently in place at the venue. “New equipment will be installed, this situation is already resolved,” said Marculescu.

The Maria Lenk will also host synchronised swimming and water polo group matches during the Games (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.