FINA WJDC 2016: Russian divers take gold and bronze on day 4

The Russian team won two medals on the fourth competition day of the FIAN World Junior Diving Championships in Kazan.  Dmitry Belov celebrated victory in the 1m springboard event (Group B Boys) with 412.50 points. Another Russian diver, Nikita Grigorovich, also climbed the podium after winning bronze (398.55).

Colombia’s Luis Felipe Uribe Bermudez earned silver with 404.10 points. In the final, he was keeping the lead after two dives but a few flaws in the next dives prevented him from winning gold. “I’m happy no matter what; a medal is always a medal. Yes, I could have won; I could have dived better, I trained a lot but I killed my medal hopes; there’s no one to blame. At the moment, I’m happy with my result,” the Colombian diver said.

Bermudez ‘s errors allowed Russia’s Dmitry Belov to get the highest score. “I’m not used to watching my opponents’ performance but here, at this tournament, I heard my rivals’ points being announced and I realised that I have a chance to win gold,” the gold medallist said. “The Colombian took risk and tried to deliver back 2 ½ somersaults but he failed. And all I had to do is to execute my dives as flawlessly as possible, and so I did.” 

“I was in the fifth place before the final: I was not even counting on winning a medal,” Dmitry Belov said. “It’s my first world championship and I performed only in one event and I gave it 200%.”

“I’m not upset that I lost to my teammate,” Nikita Gregorovich commented after the medal ceremony. “We are friends and I’m happy for him. The more Russians climb the podium, the better. I wish I could trade places with him but he deserved this victory more than I. We’ve been having a long way towards our triumph; we have trained a lot; we have followed our coach’s instructions and now we reap the benefits of our hard work.”