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Men’s 2020 Olympic Diving Odds, Schedule and Picks – China Favored to Win Synchronized 10m Platform

Chris Wassel

by Chris Wassel in News

Updated Jul 24, 2021 · 8:26 AM PDT

Tokyo Olympics Diving
Athletes exercise during a diving training session at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 23, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
  • The Chinese National Team is favored again in synchronized diving from the 10m platform and 3m springboard.
  • Team USA is a bit of a long shot when it comes to the 3m springboard; Do they have any value?
  • Check out the odds, analysis, and betting predictions below

Synchronized diving once again comes to the world stage as the 10m platform finals take place on Monday, July 26th at 2 am ET. The 3m springboard finals start on Wednesday, July 28th, at 2 am ET.

Here are the odds for the 10m Platform event.

Men’s Synchronized 10m Platform Odds

Team Odds
China -400
Great Britain +450
Russia +650
Canada +1200
South Korea +2500
Mexico +5000
Japan +6500

Odds as of July 24 at DraftKings

The duets simply feature seven pairs this Olympics for the 10m platform while there are eight for the 3m springboard event. Again, China will be a considerable favorite as their duets won seven of the last eight gold medals since the 2012 London Olympics. Only Great Britain’s Jack Laugher and Chris Mears denied China a clean sweep of the past two Olympiads.

The Chinese are still the prohibitive favorites to sweep all eight gold medals but again can Laugher and Mears of Great Britain stop that?

The Chinese and Their Historical Dominance

Team China imposed its historical dominance in this event not just by winning three of the four events in Rio. This goes back further. The 2012 Olympics in London saw the Chinese sweep all four synchronized events and three of the four were not even close.

Some will argue that this is almost unfair but the symmetry and coordination are on another level. Below, is a performance from the 2016 Olympics.

YouTube video

Their drive is incredible but the dedication is even more so. It takes years to get to this level and then surpass even that plateau. What China has done is create a juggernaut similar to American women’s gymnastics. Most of the events have the feel in this discipline of being more a fight for second place among other countries.

The 10m platform event is almost accepted domination. Britain will challenge here but doesn’t expect to win gold. Chen Aisen from China will be the one to watch as he is probably the world’s best.

The Pick: China (-400)

Men’s Synchronized 3m Springboard Odds

Team Odds
China -330
Great Britain +350
Germany +1000
Mexico +1500
Russia +1600
USA +1600
Italy +6500
Japan +8000

Odds as of July 24 at DraftKings

Can the British do it again?

What Jack Laugher and Chris Mears pulled off four years ago in Rio was nothing short of amazing. This was amid a litany of problems with the water and more (yes, it went green due to algae).

YouTube video

The British duo is relying on their experience and an endless quest for perfection to defeat the Chinese divers once more. Do not expect all the secrets to be revealed after all. Jack Laugher relies on the mental aspect of the sport more than most. It is why he was so successful in 2016.

Obviously the Olympics in Tokyo features no crowd and Great Britain has been practicing in bubble conditions for some time. They feel like the divers have an advantage, particularly in this event. Laugher beat the Chinese one. He believes they can do it once more and the Americans as well. New diver Dan Goodfellow teamed up with Laugher to produce a second at the last World Championship. They enjoyed chemistry which gives them a chance to go one rung higher.

What about America and the rest of the field?

There is a little value with Team USA as most forget they swept the silver medals in the men’s portion at Rio. The problem was that no qualification (COVID related) this time around. They do have value to medal but at +1600, gold is very unlikely.

Michael Hixon returns for Team USA as he partnered with Andrew Capobianco. The pair won a bronze at the 2019 FINA World Series and are considered a medal threat but not gold.

The Pick: Great Britain (+350)


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