Second Olympic diver scores zero day after athlete's mid-air collision ruined chances of medal
Hearts were broken for diver Alison Gibson when she was awarded scores of 0.0 across the board for a catastrophic performance at Paris' Aquatics Centre yesterday (7 August).
Thankfully for the Team USA star, however, she isn't the only Olympian to haven't missed out on the opportunity to make a splash on the leaderboard (pardon the pun), after another diver bagged an equally disappointing score today.
One of the most talked-about moments this week occurred when Gibson collided in mid-air and flopped into the pool below during her bid for victory in the women's 3m springboard event.
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Whilst taking on a tucked position somersault routine, within seconds of launching into the air, the audience let out a gasp in shock at the painful blunder, which saw her land in last position on the leaderboard.
It all went wrong for the sportswoman when the 25-year-old's feet accidentally clattered against the board during her debut dive, causing Gibson to ultimately lose her form and plummet into the water below.
This subsequently made her two follow-up dives two pretty redundant when it came to victory.
Earlier today, she broke her silence on the matter, insisting she won't be discouraged from further competition, and that the loss will only serve to spur her on.
"I hit my heels and my feet on the board. I have cuts along the sides. And then I bruised my right heel pretty good, but I was determined to keep going," she told Reuters.
"I definitely was in pain," Alison continued.
"But one thing that I say is I hope that anyone who is watching just was able to see what it looks like to get up and keep going even when things don't go the way you want them to. It's about the fight."
However, Gibson isn't the only diver to have fumbled her performance in the pool this week, after yet another Olympian lost out on a single point from the judges.
Earlier today (8 Aug), Mexico's Aranza Vazquez Montano's hopes for victory in Paris were dashed amid the women's 3metre semi-final.
The 21-year-old had impressed judges in the minutes prior to her almighty flop - having previously been sitting pretty in seventh place following the opening three rounds.
When it came to her fourth and final performance, however, Montano simply hit the deck.
It looked to onlookers as though the diver had totally misjudged her takeoff from the board, leading her to crash clumsily into the water in a painful looking manor.
As a result, she was given an unanimous 0.0 points for the dive.
Though the Mexican athlete later tried to appeal her position, her complaint seemingly fell on deaf ears, as she was eliminated from the semis.
Speaking of Montano's dive, ex-Team GB diver and BBC pundit Leon Taylor explained as per Metro: "Sheâs got a terrible takeoff. The caveat is when you do a dive like that it counts.
"If you want to push your luck you can say something happened in the crowd that put me off.
"But if you did a good dive youâre not going to go oh that camera in the crowd put me off."
Topics:Â Olympics, Sport, World News
Rhianna Benson