Osmar Olvera, world champion on the three-meter springboard

▲ The Mexican celebrates underwater after learning the gold medal was his. Photo COM

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, August 2, 2025, p. 9

Osmar Olvera's dream of defeating the Chinese divers finally came true. With a historic performance, the 21-year-old Mexican broke the Asian nation's dominance by winning the gold medal yesterday in the 3-meter springboard final at the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships.

After a hard-fought battle, the two-time Olympic medalist, who came close to perfection with an extraordinary performance, became the new world champion by recording a total of 529.55 points, leaving Chinese divers Yuan Cao and Zongyuan Wang to settle for silver and bronze, respectively.

China had won every gold medal in the men's three-meter diving at the world championships since 2007.

Before Olvera, the most recent non-Chinese diver to win gold in the event was Canadian Alexandre Despatie, who did so at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal.

With this victory, Olvera also achieved another milestone, becoming the first Mexican man to win a world gold medal in an Olympic event, a feat previously achieved by Mexican Paola Espinosa in the 10-meter platform at the 2009 Rome World Championships, both coached by China's Ma Jin.

Thanks to these medals, plus the gold Olvera also won in the one-meter springboard event at Doha 2024, Mexico earned its third gold medal in history at a World Swimming Championships.

Execution and precision

After accurately executing a four and a half front flip in position C, with a difficulty level of 3.8, in the fifth round, which earned him a score of 102.60 points, the highest of the entire final, the Mexican faced his sixth and final jump in first place on the table with an advantage of just over half a point (0.55) over the Chinese Yuan Cao, Olympic champion in Rio 2016.

In the final round, a double and a half forward somersault with three twists catapulted Olvera to 529.55 points, a figure unattainable for Cao, who took silver with 522.70 points.

The tricolor left the king of the discipline, fellow Chinese Zongyuan Wang, in third place, who won bronze with 515.55 points and was unable to secure his fourth consecutive title in the event.

In this way, Olvera achieved the long-awaited victory over Wang, Olympic runner-up in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 and triple world champion in this specialty, and added his fourth medal at the World Championships in Singapore, after the three silvers he had already won in the one-meter springboard, 3-meter synchronized springboard, alongside Juan Manuel Celaya, and in the mixed team event, where he competed alongside Alejandra Estudillo, Zyanya Parra, and Randal Willars.

Furthermore, Olvera became the Mexican diver with the most medals in world championships, as with this new award he reached a total of eight world medals, among which also stands out the gold medal he won last year in Doha on the one-meter springboard.

Just last year, the Mexico City native won a bronze medal in the same event at the Paris Olympics, where he was beaten by China's Xie Siyi and Wang.

It's now or never

“Today was a great day. I woke up with that confidence, convinced I could win that gold medal, and I did. Once I was in the final, I said, 'It's now or never. You've trained for this, you're going to achieve it,' and I knew I could do it,” the champion said.

I thank all those people who stayed up all night, my family, Ma Jin, because of her I am all this, and I want to tell them that Mexico is not just about soccer, we are the best in the world at diving, I proved it today and I will continue to do so , he added.

He also expressed confidence that this victory over the Asian athletes will not be the last in his career. "I want to maintain this level and continue competing against the Chinese, continue beating them, and be a stepping stone in their path. My biggest dream is to be an Olympic champion in Los Angeles 2028, and I know I'll achieve it. I'll keep training for it ," he expressed.

Mexican divers' participation in the Singapore World Championships will continue today with the women's 3-meter springboard semifinal, featuring Aranza Vázquez and Fernanda García. If they advance, they will compete in the final later that day.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands, China, Hungary, and the United States won individual gold medals in the swimming events at the World Championships in Singapore, thanks to the absence of France's Léon Marchand and Canada's Summer McIntosh from Friday's finals. Great Britain also won its first gold medal and first medal at the competition, after winning the men's 4x200 freestyle relay.

With information from Prensa Latina and AP

Arturo Sánchez Jiménez and Alma E. Muñoz

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, August 2, 2025, p. 9

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo yesterday extended her congratulations to Mexican diver Osmar Olvera, who won the gold medal in the three-meter springboard event at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

At her daily press conference at the National Palace, the president showed a video of Olvera's participation in the competition and applauded her victory. "Congratulations ," she exclaimed.