Olympics 2024: LI's Andrew Capobianco qualifies for semifinals in 3-meter men's individual springboard diving
Four rounds were done and Andrew Capobianco was on the outside looking in at a ticket to the semifinals.
The 24-year-old Wantagh native was in 21st place overall in the prelims of the 3-meter men’s individual springboard diving competition Tuesday at the Paris Olympics. Only the top 18 would move on to Wednesday.
But Capobianco’s final two dives had the highest degrees of difficulty and he did well on both to advance, placing 15th.
After posting just 36 points in the fourth round, the former two-time Nassau County boys diving champ began his comeback with a forward 2 1/2 somersaults three twist dive that had a 3.9 degree of difficulty. Capobianco scored 76.05 points, but he was still on the outside looking in, sitting in 19th.
Then on his final effort, a forward dive with 4 1/2 somersaults and a 3.9 degree of difficulty, he put up his highest score of the day, 79.80, to secure his place in the next round with a total of 382.05 points.
Fellow American Carson Tyler was in 10th at 389.80. China’s Zongyuan Wang was the leader at 530.65.
Capobianco placed 10th individually at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He teamed with Michael Hixon to claim a silver medal there in 3-meter synchronized diving.
This time, he didn’t make it in the synchro event at the U.S. Trials in June, coming in second with new partner Quinn Henninger. But he qualified for a trip to Paris by finishing first individually at the Trials.