Olympic athlete given major penalty after changing mind seconds before dive

We're just a couple days away from the 2024 Paris Games coming to an end on Sunday (11 August).

Now, it's clear that the Olympics can be a pretty stressful time for athletes what with all the dramatic disqualifications, penis bulge chatter and a whole bunch of swimming trunks drama all while battling it out to take home the gold medal.

However, it seems some athletes can handle the pressure better than others as one German diver was issued a major penalty after changing mind mere seconds before his dive.

Germany's Moritz Wesemann was issued a 2.0 penalty during the men's 3m springboard final. (Maddie Meyer / Staff / Getty Images)

Moritz Wesemann's dreams of taking home the gold were dashed when he seemed to get cold feet at a pretty pivotal moment during the men's 3m springboard final.

The 22-year-old diver needed to complete a perfect dive at the start of the fifth round to secure himself a spot on the podium.

He decided to attempt a dive that incorporated four-and-a-half somersaults, representing a difficulty rating of 3.8.

However, just as he prepared for take-off, Moritz - who was previously the reigning European champion - made a fatal error of mistiming his steps before and retreated to the start of the board after two bounces.

He then composed himself before turning back around to start the whole process again.

Wesemann seemed to get cold feet seconds before the dive. (BBC)

Fortunately, the German diver recovered pretty well but was issued a 2.0 penalty for the initial blunder scoring 57 for the round.

"That’s known as a balk, which is formally known as a re-start," explained BBC diving commentator Leon Taylor.

He continued: "Wesemann was coming in on his hurdle step and had no chance of making the dive and decided to stop."

Taylor went on: "He would have been getting sevens if it wasn’t for the re-start," upon confirmation of the two-point punishment the Olympian received from each of the seven judges.

"But of course what happens sometimes you have to stop for safety reasons and make the dive," the commentator added.

His hesitation resulted in the diver coming bottom of the 12-man field with a total score of 363.65.

China's Xie Siyi and Wang Zongyuan earned the gold and silver medals respectively after achieving scores of 543.60 and 530.20.

And it was Mexico's Osmar Olvera who came third place in the men's 3m springboard final, taking home the bronze medal with a total of 500.40.

Wisemann was previously the 2023 European champion in the 3m springboard event so, no doubt, he'll be very disappointed by the result.