Sask. diver captures bronze at Paris Olympics

Canada's Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray celebrate on the podium after winning the bronze medal in the men's synchronized 10m platform diving final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Pike Lake’s own Rylan Wiens has captured bronze in his second appearance at the Olympics.

Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que. finished third place with a total of 422.13 points over their six dives in the men’s synchronized 10-metre platform event.

It marks Canada’s first-ever medal in the event and the first Canadian men’s diving medal since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“Me in that moment, jumping up and down, looking at Nathan and realizing that we’ve done it – that thing we set out to do three years ago when we started synchro and many more than three years ago when we started diving,” Wiens told media following the medals ceremony.

“It’s absolutely amazing to be a part of and to have been able to do something like that.”

China’s Junjie Lian and Hao Yang took the gold medal with a score of 490.35 points while Great Britain’s Tom Daley and Noah Williams captured second with 463.44.

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The duo narrowly beat out Kevin Berlin Reyes and Randal Williars Valdez of Mexico – who placed just four points behind the Canadians.

“Personally, I stayed pretty calm. Actually, I never looked at the scoreboard. So I didn't know exactly where we were. But I was pretty sure we were in third place,” Zsombor-Murray explained. “That's sort of a pretty strong dive for us. So I was confident going into the last round.”

Wiens agreed, commenting on the narrow path to victory that worked out in the end.

“I didn’t know how much of a margin we had. [But] it's a comfortable dive for both of us. And we, I mean, just the confidence. I know he's [going to] drill it, I know that I most likely will drill it,” he said.

“Just let the body do its thing and don't even think about it.”

Both divers said the support from their respective homes has been immense.

“I've been receiving some beautiful messages. Inspiring ones. I mean most of the most of my family is here watching but the ones at home have been sending some nice messages,” Zsombor-Murray said.

“I’ve got a flood of messages – all support from Pike Lake, Saskatoon all around Saskatchewan really and all around Canada. I’ve been able to get in touch with a couple of people and I just [got to say] it’s amazing to have the support we have back home,” Wiens added.

“It’s overwhelming to see the amount of people there are on our side.”

“When I saw the Mexican team’s result, I just jumped into Nathan’s arms,” Wiens said in a news release from Diving Canada.

“I couldn’t believe we got to experience that together. It was magical. I’m so glad to be able to experience this with my coach, my teammates, and my whole family, who are all here.”

The 2024 Paris Games mark both Wiens’ and Zsombor-Murray’s second appearance at the Olympics.

Full coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games can be found here.

--With files from The Canadian Press.