What zero diving score actually means after Olympian’s collision ruined chances of winning medal

There are around 10,700 athletes around the globe who have all made their way to Paris to battle it out for gold and bring it home for their respective countries.

Now, gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the top finishers in every event at the Olympic Games and, in order to be one of those, you gotta score pretty high during various sporting events throughout the ceremony.

Some competitors are clearly more fortunate than others, however, as a crowd was left gobsmacked as they watched the shocking moment an Olympic diver scored zero after colliding mid-air with the springboard.

It all went south during the preliminary round of the Olympic women's 3m springboard when Team USA's Alison Gibson finished last out of the 28 competitors.

In her first dive, the 25-year-old Texas native's feet slammed into the springboard when she was in a tucked position amid a somersault prompting the audience to let out a gasp in shock at the painful blunder.

The collision meant that Alison lost her previous form as she plummeted into the water.

The American athlete then had to watch on in agony as judges awarded her a 0.0 for the dive.

And she isn't the only diver to have scored 0.0 for her dive too.

But what exactly does a zero diving score actually mean?

Well, NBC Olympics says that divers never go feet-first if they want to score points, explaining: "If a diver doesn’t fully rotate to go in headfirst, it is considered a non-dive and the diver scores zero points."

Now, while Alison unfortunately crashed into the water causing quite the splash for an Olympian athlete - divers are meant to enter the pool making as minimal of a splash as possible, which means they to need to go in very, very vertically.

"The straighter their body is when they enter the water, the smaller the splash and the higher the points," NBC Olympics also notes.

Now, according to the outlet, there are dour main aspects of a dive that judges pay attention to.

Up first is the diver's starting position.

Hawk-eyed judges pay a lot of attention to divers having 'good posture' and 'smooth balance' when they're on the springboard before leaping off into a dive.

The next element is takeoff with judges looking at just how much height above the board a diver is able to achieve while also maintaining 'good balance and control'.

OUCH 😬

A tough moment for Alison Gibson as her feet strike the board on the way down. #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/jdXFwTKcVh

— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 7, 2024

Third on the list is flight.

When in the air, divers need to have 'proper form' based on the specific type of

dive they’re performing and be a 'safe distance' from the board.

Clearly, this wasn't something Alison was able to achieve after whacking her feet on the springboard which left them pretty injured.

Also, in case you were intrigued, there are actually six different dives; forward, backward, reverse, inward, twisting and armstand which is to be done only on a platform only.

And last but by no means least is entry with judges looking for 'very vertical' dives complete with 'pointed feet' and a 'minimal splash'.