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Kiwi Down-Jenkins in diving final after strong semi-final

August 3, 2021
Kiwi diver Anton Down-Jenkins competes in springboard preliminaries at Tokyo 2020.

Kiwi diver Anton Down-Jenkins has sealed a spot in the men's 3m springboard final this evening at the Tokyo Olympics after an impressive display in this afternoon's semi-finals.

Down-Jenkins qualified eighth in the field of 18 with 12 spots available as he grew into the competition one dive at a time.

The 21-year-old started his semi-final with an inward two-and-a-half somersaults to sit 12th after earning just 66 points.

The University of South Carolina alumni then followed up with a back two-and-a-half somersaults but only managed 63 points, dropping him to 14th after two of the six rounds.

Down-Jenkins then stepped things up a notch, pushing his way back inside the top 12 with a reverse two-and-a-half somersaults that earned him 72 points - the sixth-best dive of the round.

From there, Down-Jenkins remained in 11th through rounds four and five before an impressive forward two-and-a-half somersaults with two twists scored him 79.90 points in the final round.

The final score saw him push his way up to a comfortable eighth and he was confirmed as a finalist two divers later.

Down-Jenkins will now return to this evening's final which starts at 6pm NZT.

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