Team USA wins its first medal of Paris Games

WASHINGTON — It didn’t take long for Team USA to find itself on the medal podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Americans Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook won silver on Saturday in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard diving final.

The duo finished with a score of 314.64 points on five dives. China’s Yani Chang and Yiwen Chen soared beyond the rest of the field for the gold medal, with a final score of 337.68 points.

Great Britain’s Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen won the bronze medal with a score of 302.28 points. 

This event was added in 2000, and Chinese women have won gold six times in seven Games. The only loss was to Russia in 2000. China won three years ago in Tokyo with Shi Tingmao and Wang Han.

Indianapolis native Sarah Bacon is a graduate student at the University of Minnesota and is a 10-time All-American and the most decorated female champion in Minnesota history with five NCAA titles, three on the 1-meter (2018, ’19, ’21) and two on the 3-meter (2021, ’22).  It’s the first time Bacon’s qualified for the games after just missing a spot on the 2020 team. 

Cook, from The Woodlands, Texas, last competed at the Olympics eight years ago. 

The gold medal for China was already the country’s second of the Paris Games after they won the first gold of the Paris Olympics in the final of the 10-meter air rifle mixed team event held Saturday morning.

China has ruled diving for decades, and three years ago in Tokyo it won seven of eight gold medals. It’s never pulled off the elusive gold sweep. That’s the goal this time. 

KARE 11’s Jeremiah Jacobsen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.