U.S. Picks Up Two More Bronze Medals at Pan American Games

SANTIAGO, Chile – After Krysta Palmer hit her last dive in Tuesday's women’s 3-meter final at the Pan American Games, she came out of the water and pumped her fist. 

The Olympic bronze medalist was thrilled with how she performed in her first international 3-meter contest since coming back from surgery after Tokyo.

But she had no idea she had won a Pan Am Games bronze medal, nor did she realize just how close the contest had been.

It came down to the final round, with Palmer holding a slim .05-point advantage over U.S. teammate Hailey Hernandez for third place after the fourth of five rounds.

“I didn’t realize how close it was, honestly. I don’t like to pay attention to scores. I just wanted to take it dive by dive and not see the scores,” Palmer said. “It was exciting that I hit that last dive because I knew that it was good. I was very happy about that one.”

Palmer ended up with 323.85 points for bronze to edge Hernandez, who finished fourth with 321.40 points. Canada’s Pamela Ware took the gold at 342.75, and Mexico’s Arantxa Chavez scored 336.85 for silver.

Palmer clinched the medal with 71.40 points on her final dive, a front 2 ½ with two twists. She scored no lower than 60.45 points on any of her other four dives in the final.

“I still think there was room for improvement, but overall I’m really happy with how I did this morning in prelims and how consistent I stayed in the finals,” Palmer said. “It’s really exciting to come away with a medal at the Pan American Games. It’s my first international competition doing individual 3-meter since my surgery, and to come back after that feels really great on the road to Paris.”

Hernandez also had a solid list that ended with 69 points on her front 2 ½ with one twist and also included a back 2 ½ tuck that scored 67.20 points.
“I was really happy with how I went out there and performed today, but it’s a little disappointing that it was so close. They’re such amazing competitors and I’m happy to be out there with them,” said Hernandez, who won a 1-meter bronze on Sunday.

Also on Tuesday, Jack Ryan and Tyler Downs paired together for the first time and picked up a bronze medal in synchronized 3-meter.

Downs and Ryan finished with 368.64 points for third, with the Mexican duo of Osmar Olvera and Diego Rodrigo taking gold at 425.26. The Colombian team of Daniel Restrepo and Luis Felipe Uribe scored 398.67 for silver.

Despite limited time to prepare for their first competition together, Downs and Ryan put together a solid list that included 99.60 points on their two voluntary dives. They added 76.50 points on a front 2 ½ with two twists and solidified the bronze medal with 69.30 points on their reverse 1 ½ with 3 ½ twists in the final round.

“We only had two days of practice, and this was our first competition together. We didn’t get that many reps in, but at the end of the day, we both knew we could hit our dives and we just wanted to have fun,” Downs said.

“I think we both match up pretty well, so even without too much training, it was pretty easy for us to get going and execute in the meet,” said Ryan.

Diving at the Pan American Games wraps up Wednesday with Hernandez and Jordan Skilken diving women’s synchronized 3-meter and Jordan Rzepka and Max Flory competing individually in men’s 10-meter.