ST-DENIS, France — Cassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon won silver in the women’s 3-meter synchronized springboard event on Saturday, earning the United States its first medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Their five dive score was 314.64 The event put the Americans on the podium For the first time since 2012Bacon and Cook jostled between gold medalists Zhang Yani and Chen Yiwen of China (337.68) and bronze Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Miu Jensen of Great Britain (302.28).
For the duo known as Cook n Bacon, familiarity and friendship were key ingredients in their recipe for success, with the divers having been friends since their childhood and diving as a pair since 2019.
“I’m ecstatic. I’m going through a lot of emotions right now,” Cook told reporters. “You know, to go out there and perform (and) put together a solid roster and end up on that medal stand with one of my best friends is amazing.”
Defending world champions Chang and Chen led wire-to-wire, but Bacon and Cook said their continued battle with the powerful Chinese pair helped them secure silver.
“Obviously, we’re diving behind China’s top team, so they put a lot of pressure on us,” Cook said. “But watching them dive made us want to hit our dives. I think they made us better and I’m really happy to take home that silver.
Cook, 29, who lives outside Houston, competed in Rio in 2016, becoming the first American diver to compete. In non-series games.
“Then we found out we were the first metal for Team USA, which was an even more amazing feeling,” Cook said.
The event has been held seven times in Olympic history and a pair from China has won six of those events, only failing to take the top spot in 2000.
Bacon, who missed out on making the U.S. diving team for Tokyo, said the disappointment turned out to be a blessing.
“Yeah, I mean, we didn’t make the Olympic team in 2020, and my plan is to retire after those Olympics,” said Bacon, 27, of Indianapolis.
“I was fired up and ready to be done. So not making the Olympic team kept me diving and got me to these Olympics with Cassidy. Being on the award stand with a silver medal was incredible. I have no words. Describe it right now.”
Both competitors, in retrospect, missed Tokyo leading to a better result.
Saturday’s action unfolded with loud, boisterous cheers for all competitors, especially the Chinese, Americans, hometown French and Ukrainians.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Cook told NBC News later Saturday. “Those Games (in Tokyo), although they are still Olympic Games, they are not a real experience. If we had gone to that, we would have retired because we would have achieved that goal.
He added: “I’m really glad we’re still here.”
Cook now has the rest of the Olympics to rest and cheer on her teammates. Bacon still competes in the individual 3-meter springboard starting Aug. 7.
With the Olympics over, both women will have to make tough decisions about where to put their medals in their homes.
“I like to put it on display,” Cook said. “Maybe I should make a trophy room with a silver metal centerpiece.”
Despite being considered metal contenders come Saturday, both Cook and Bacon said they hadn’t given much thought beforehand to where the potential hardware would end up in their homes.
“Before I figure out where I’m going to put it, I have to clear a spot in my house,” Bacon said. “Maybe in a frame on a wall somewhere? That would be a focal point of something.”
