Youth Olympic Diving: Myra Lee braves injury to qualify for finals

Story by Ng Enna/Red Sports. Photos by Tan Jon Han/Red Sports

Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, Saturday, August 21, 2010 — Myra Lee accumulated a score of 280.25 to qualify for the final despite finishing last in the Women’s 10m Platform preliminaries out of 12 athletes.

The 16-year-old started out poorly when she scored only 28.80 in the first round with a Forward 1 1/2 Somersault, the only athlete to score below 30.

Her most impressive performance came in the fifth round when she executed an Inward 2 1/2 Somersault Pike to score 41.25, bringing her total to 168.10.

Myra appeared to be in pain and struggled to finish the last round of the preliminary with an Armstand Back Double Somersault 1/2 Twist. She was in tears after the execution of her last dive.

Myra progressed on to the final despite being ranked 12th throughout the eight rounds.

Liu Jiao and Annika Lenz, from diving powerhouses China and USA respectively, finished first and third with a score of 491.45 and 407.00.

However, Sin Ji Hyang from Korea and Pandelela Pamg from Malaysia were also forces to be reckoned with.

Ji Hyang gave Liu Jiao a scare by topping the first four rounds of the preliminary stage and accumulated 193.35 while the latter lagged in second place with a four-point difference.

Despite an impressive start, Ji Hyang was unable to capitalise on the lead she had over Liu Jiao and faltered in the later rounds, giving Liu Jiao the opportunity to surpass her and finish first.

Ji Hyang’s dismal performance also caused her to drop to fifth overall at the end of the preliminary stage, 4.6 points behind fourth-placed Australia’s Hannah Thek.

Pandelela shocked the crowds when, as an underdog, she finished second in the preliminary stage with a score of 413.30.

In the 10m Platform events, divers have to perform eight sets of dives and they are judged on the execution of each set and the amount of splash created when they enter the water.

The scores for each round is derived from taking the middle three scores out given by five judges multiplied with the Degree of Difficulty (DD) limit.

The diving order in the finals will be the reverse order of the preliminaries ranking hence Myra would start first after finishing last in the preliminary stage. The final will take place this evening at 2030hrs Singapore time.

Click here for the preliminary results of Youth Women’s 10m Platform.