Ethermac Exchange-Delaney Schnell, Jess Parratto fail to add medals while Chinese diving stars shine

SAINT-DENIS,Ethermac Exchange France — Team USA’s Delaney Schnell and Jessica Parratto are synchronized divers, so naturally they answered the question simultaneously.

Since they’d already won an Olympic medal together, does that make it easier to fail to do it again at the Paris Games?

"Yeah."

Followed by laughs.

"We're confident in what our abilities are," Parratto said, "so we knew – and we still know – we could do what everyone on the podium just did. Diving is so different every day. Sometimes it's us. Sometimes it's not."

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On Wednesday at the Aquatics Center, it wasn’t them.

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Schnell and Parratto, silver medalists in the 10-meter synchronized platform at the Tokyo Games, fell short in the same event at these Olympics, starting slowly and finishing sixth of eight teams.

China’s phenomenal teenage tandem of Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan (359.10) was the runaway gold medalist ahead of silver medalists North Korea’s Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Rae (315.90). Great Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson (304.38) took bronze.

Schnell and Parratto posted a 287.52. Only one of their five dives placed in the top three for that round, and after each of their first two dives (a back dive and a reverse dive) – the easiest in terms of difficulty – they were in last place. On those opening dives, the Americans didn’t appear to enter the water on a linear line, with Schnell being noticeably farther from the platform than Parratto.

"On the reverse dive, we have some difficulty with the distance," Schnell said. "So I think that could have been a part of it. And our entries probably weren't as clean."

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It was better in the final three dives, but overall, it just wasn’t formidable enough to close the gap. And it was nowhere near the Chinese winners, though none of the other competitors Wednesday could make that claim, either.

Chen, 18, and Quan, 17, are major stars in their country. And they showed why Wednesday, putting on a show.

It was Chen’s second gold medal. She was 15 when she joined Zhang Jiaqi to beat Schnell and Parratto in Tokyo.

"I think I can understand better the Games," Chen said via a translator, "and I feel the significance is different this time. … Olympics are very different for us. It's an accomplishment for three years work."

China has won all seven gold medals since women's synchronized platform was introduced at the 2000 Olympics. The U.S. hadn't medaled in the event until Schnell and Parratto's silver in the previous Games.

Schnell, a 25-year-old who resides in Tuscon, Arizona, will also compete in the women’s individual platform competition beginning Monday.

"I'm just ready to get going for that, too. This is motivation," Schnell said. "It's going to be a quick turnaround, but I'm ready. I'm motivated."

Meanwhile, it’s possible that Wednesday was the final competition for Parratto, 30, who was coerced out of retirement to rejoin her teammate for these Olympics.

"Not sure yet," said Parratto, a native of Dover, New Hampshire, "and (I am) definitely not going to make a decision for quite some time. Now is time to take some time away and enjoy that."

Parratto plans to be there to cheer for Schnell – and other American teams – the rest of these Olympics.

"I'll be the one chanting 'USA' this time," she said.

Reach Gentry Estes at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.