At age 17, Rikuto Tamai is already a two-time Olympian. And on Saturday, August 10, Tamai collected his first Olympic medal, a silver in the men's 10-meter platform diving final.
Tamai, who hails from Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, was in third place after round five of the six-round final.
He slipped to third place after finishing 12th for his mistake-filled attempt on a reverse 3½ somersault dive (39.10 points) in front of a seven-judge panel at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, France.
Tamai, however, was consistently in medal contention throughout the final round. He sat in second place after the opening round, first after the second and second after rounds three and four.
Tamai said winning an Olympic medal "has been a dream and I'm feeling the weight of it."
Describing the fifth attempt, he said, according to Kyodo News, it "made my heart tremble but I kept faith in what I've been doing until now. I'm relieved."
Pivotal Performance in the Final Round
In the sixth round, he delivered an outstanding execution, performing a dive described on the official result sheet as "back 2½ somersaults 2½ twists." Tamai received 99.0 points, the highest score in the final round, to climb back into second place.
Tamai received the silver medal with a total score of 507.65 points to become Japan's first-ever Olympic diving medalist. China's Yuan Cuo defended his title from the Tokyo Olympics, winning with 547.50 points. Great Britain's Noah Williams finished third with 497.35 points.
American Greg Louganis was the last diver to win back-to-back titles in this event, achieving the feat at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Tamai, who was in third place after the Paris 2024 semifinals, finished seventh in this event at the Tokyo Olympics. Three years later, his rise to stardom continued in France.
In between, Tamai provided a reminder of his growing status in the sport with a runner-up finish in the 10-meter platform diving final at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.
Golf
Yamashita Places 4th in Women's Tournament
Miyuu Yamashita carded a 1-over 73 in the final round of the Olympic women's golf tournament at Le Golf National on Saturday, August 10 to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place at 6-under 282.
New Zealand's Lydia Ko, who had a 67 and 68 on the final two days, wrapped up the tourney with a 10-under 278 to win the Olympic gold.
Germany's Esther Henseleit was two strokes behind at 280. Henseleit had the best score in the final round, a 6-under 66, to climb 11 places in the standings on the last day in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.
China's Xiyu Janet Lin placed third at 7-under 281.
Yamashita had a pair of double bogeys on Saturday, including on the par-5 ninth hole. She also had five birdies and two bogeys in the last round.
"I can't think about anything right now," Yamashita said, reacting to her fourth-place finish, according to Kyodo News. She then said, "I was aiming for a medal, so fourth place is not so good."
She added: "I wasn't under much pressure, but it was my mistake that I couldn't stick with it. Double bogeys on No 9 and 16 were a waste."
Yuka Saso, the 2024 US Open's winner, endured a frustrating day on the golf course, finishing at 10-over 82. She had a triple bogey, two double bogeys and six bogeys.
Saso completed the tournament in 54th place at 17-over 305.
Sport Climbing
Mori Finishes 4th in Women's Sport Climbing Combined Final
Japan’s Ai Mori just missed out on the podium in sport climbing after an impressive performance in the final that resulted in a standing ovation at Le Bourget Climbing Venue on Saturday, August 10.
Mori had a mountain to climb after struggling in the boulder portion of the event when the 20-year-old scored just 39.0 points.
The diminutive native of Ibaraki Prefecture then thrilled the near-capacity crowd with a sensational climb in the lead event for a remarkable 96.1 points, which briefly put her on top of the standings in Le Bourget, France.
However, because of her lower score in the first event, she finished with 135.1 points and was unable to retain top position, eventually being taken over by defending champion Janja Garnbret of Slovenia and two others.
Three years on from winning the combined event in Tokyo, Garnbret finished with a total of 168.5 points. Brooke Raboutou of the United States took silver with 156.0 points.
Austria’s Jessica Pilz edged past Mori to finish with 147.4 points for the bronze.
Mori stands just 5-foot-1 (154 cm) and struggled to even start the boulder event, failing on several attempts to grab the starting holds.
She scored zero points in her first attempt before eventually getting 39.0. Some viewers claimed she had been discriminated against by organizers, who placed the starting hold too high.
Athletics
Japan Places 5th in Men's 4x100-Meter Relay
Canada won the men's 4x100-meter relay final on Friday night (starting a few minutes before 3 AM JST on Saturday) with a season-best time of 37.50 seconds in the event.
Japan finished fifth in 37.78, 0.17 seconds behind bronze medalist Great Britain at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France.
South Africa earned the silver in 37.57. Italy placed fourth in 37.61.
In succession, Japan's Ryuichiro Sakai, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, Yoshihide Kiryu and Koki Ueyama ran the four relay legs.
Sani Brown ran the fastest time (8.88) among the eight nations' second leg runners. As a result, Japan had a cumulative time of 19.29 seconds after 200 meters.
Kiryu then ran his leg in 9.16 seconds as Japan still held the overall lead (28.45) heading into the final leg. And Italy (28.48) and Canada (28.61) were right behind Japan.
Ueyama ran the slowest final leg (9.33 seconds) and Japan faded to fifth place. By contrast, South Africa's Akani Simbine had the fastest time on the final leg (8.78).
Reaction After the Race
"We made this abrupt decision to ask Hakim to run the second leg, although we knew he was tired," Kiryu, a 28-year-old, three-time Olympian said, according to Kyodo News. "I feel we're reliant on him to a degree, we can't be left behind and each needs to be able to compete with him equally.
Added Kiryu, "The team members might have been different (here) but the baton is passing on the tradition of Japanese sprinting. I don't know if I can make it to the next games [in 2028] but I'll aim to get faster."
Japan also finished fifth in the 4x100 relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Olympic Medal Table
As of 12 AM JST on Sunday, August 11, Japan had collected a total of 38 Olympic medals (16 gold, nine silver and 13 bronze).
Check out the updated medal table on the Paris Games website.
RELATED:
- Olympic Roundup: Japan Makes National Record in the 4x400-Meter Relay
- Olympic Roundup: Keiju Okada and Miho Yoshioka Sail for Silver in Mixed Dinghy Final
Authors: Ed Odeven and Jim Armstrong
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
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