'An unprecedented 24 years later' — a new chapter for Korean diving... Kim Su-ji and Kim Na-hyun win silver in synchronized 3m springboard [Aichi Nagoya AG]

*This content was translated by AI.

A new chapter was written in Korean diving history. Kim Su-ji (Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Council) and Kim Na-hyun (Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Government) secured a silver medal in the women's synchronized 3m springboard event at the Asian Games for the first time in 24 years.

On the 27th, at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan during the finals of the women's synchronized 3m springboard event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Kim Su-ji and Kim Na-hyun accumulated a total of 254.70 points across five rounds to finish in second place.

China's Tian Yi-Yuan and Tian Zi, paired together as the two-time Olympic champion from the 2024 Paris Olympics, claimed an overwhelming gold medal with 328.56 points, while Ong Ke-ying and Li Yeh-ching of Malaysia took the bronze with 243.72 points.

This marks Korea's first silver medal in this event since the 2002 Busan Games (Kang Min-kyung and Im Sung-young), an unprecedented gap of 24 years.

Kim Su-ji, who previously won bronze medals in the 1m springboard at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and in both the synchronized 3m springboard and 1m springboard at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, earned her fourth Asian Games medal and her first-ever silver. Kim Na-hyun, who had previously won a bronze in the synchronized 10m platform event with Moon Na-yoon (Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Government) the day before, climbed onto the podium for two consecutive days, securing Korea's second diving medal of this tournament.

Throughout the competition, their steady breathing stood out. Starting immediately in second place after scoring 46.80 points in the first round (101B), Kim Su-ji and Kim Na-hyun added another 46.80 points in the second round to firmly maintain their second-place position. In the third round, they executed a high-difficulty routine involving two and a half backward somersaults, earning an impressive 59.40 points to stay at the top of the leaderboard.

They calmly navigated a critical moment as well. In the fourth round, a difficulty-3.0 routine (305B), they made entry errors that limited their score to 44.10 points, allowing fierce pressure from third-place Malaysia. However, in the final fifth round, they flawlessly executed a difficulty-3.0 routine (5152B) involving two and a half forward somersaults followed by one twist before entry, scoring 57.60 points to secure the valuable silver medal.

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*This content was translated by AI.