On Saturday, Sheffield Diving Club’s Yasmin Harper made history by winning bronze in the Women’s 3m Springboard synchro event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 24-year-old and her synchro partner Scarlett Mew-Jensen wrote their names in the history books with their stunning performance.
Just under a year ago we remember bringing you the story of the pair making history after becoming only the second Team GB women ever to medal at the World Aquatics Championships.
Their silver medal finish in Fukuoka, Japan meant that Harper and Mew-Jensen had secured an Olympic quota spot for Team GB in the 2024 games and this weekend the duo took to the global stage and competed in the Women’s 3m Springboard synchro final against the best of the best.
Following a steady opening two rounds, the pairs third round dive was penalised by the judges due to an over rotation on entry to the water. However; both Harper and Mew-Jensen did not let this impact the rest of their competition as they registered their highest score in their next dive.
It was an Inward 2 ½ Somersaults Pike, performed with excellent precision and technique that racked up 71.10 points making it their best dive and a perfect comeback from the challenge of the third round.
For their final dive, Harper and Mew-Jensen performed Forward 3 ½ Somersaults Pike and scored a magnificent 70.68 points, which took them up to the bronze medal position.
The GB pair had done all they could and what followed was the nervous wait as the remaining competitors completed their final round.
A mistake from the Australian duo meant that their penalised score was not enough to finish in the medal positions and that was when the realisation hit that they had done it.
Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew-Jensen had just become Olympic Medallists.
The pair have again written their names into the history books as they won the first Olympic medal for Team GB in a women’s diving event in 64 years and became the first Team GB female synchronised diving medallists at the Olympics ever.
Not only this, but they also added the first medal to the Team GB tally for the 2024 Olympics. It is the first time Team GB have taken home a medal on the opening day of the games since 2004.
A truly incredible achievement for the young athletes, who only became synchro partners in April 2023.
This medal is testament to their dedication and hard work and it is a symbol for the exciting female diving talent in Team GB. We are so inspired by their journey and it has been so exciting to follow the duo from this time last year to now as Olympic Medallists.
City of Sheffield Diving Star, Yasmin Harper’s Olympic journey is not over yet as she is set to take part in the individual Women’s 3m Springboard event. The preliminary round will take place on Wednesday 7th August at 15:00.
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