Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen bag first Team GB medal of Paris 2024

Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen rewrote the history books as they bagged Great Britain’s first Paris 2024 medal with a fabulous bronze in the Women’s Synchronised 3m Springboard.

It represented Team GB’s first medal in women’s diving for 64 years … and their first ever in women’s synchro competition.

The duo made their indelible mark in the nation’s Olympic folklore in the Parisien suburb of Saint-Denis to the delight of the large contingent of British fans gathered inside the Olympic Aquatics Centre.

They finished just 12.36 points behind the United States, with China emerging as convincing winners of the gold medal.

Harper and Mew Jensen sealed their place on the podium with an impressive final dive – a forward 3½ somersaults – that lifted them from fourth spot.

They were in medal contention from the outset. They occupied second spot after the first round of dives, slipped to third after the second round but found themselves down in sixth after their third round forward 2½ somersaults twist scored 63.90 points.

An impressive fourth round lifted them back into contention and they sealed their success with back-to-back 70 plus point efforts, coinciding with a disappointing effort by the Australian duo.

China’s Chen and Chang were runaway winners in Paris, leading from the outset and finishing with 337.68 points, with USA’s Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook taking silver.

There were poolside tears for the Australians – Anabelle Smith and Maddison Keeney – after a poorly executed final dive checked their hopes of securing a medal and kick-started the British celebrations.

They needed a score of 58.68 to pip the British pair to the podium but only managed 48.60 after a slip from Smith.

Harper and Mew Jensen’s bronze follows hard on the heels of the silver they claimed at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships and underlines their growing presence on the global stage.

‘It’s not over until it’s over’

For Mew Jensen the Olympic success was all the sweeter considering an injury almost cost her a place in Paris.

She explained: “I’m very much lost for words. A month ago, I didn’t think I was going to be here – I got a back fracture so to be up on the boards and to come away with that I just can’t imagine anything better.”

Harper added: “We are so excited; we’re so pleased with ourselves. We came into this event knowing this is what we want – we had to stand on the boards today and deliver and I’m so proud that we were able to do that.”

Their late surge into bronze was, according to Harper, the result of tactical acumen. “Every time before we do a dive we have little word with each other, like take our time, don’t rush, we know what we’re doing,” she said.

“We decided to change our order so we put our hardest dive last just so we’d have a bit of extra advantage at the end. It went well for us … we’re really pleased.”

Mew Jensen added: “The first optional set us back on my side, although Yas executed it really well. We knew that we needed two really good ones and it’s also not over until it’s over and we showed that today.”

Harper will be hoping for more of the same on Wednesday, August 7 when she goes in search of medal glory in the Women’s 3m Springboard.