Kim Suji Fails to Qualify for 3m Diving Final... 13th Place in Semifinals [Paris Olympics]

Kim Suji (26, Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall) became the first Korean female diver to advance to the Olympic semifinals in two consecutive Games, but she did not reach the final stage.

On the 8th (Korean time) at the Aquatic Center in Paris, France, during the women's 3m springboard semifinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kim scored a total of 272.75 points from the first to fifth rounds, placing 13th out of 18 competitors. She missed the cutoff for the final, which only admits the top 12, ending her Paris Olympic journey in the semifinals.

The 12th place diver, Yasmin Harper (United Kingdom), scored 278.90 points, 6.15 points higher than Kim Suji.

Kim made a mistake in the third round with the dive 'backward somersault with knees tucked to the body, two and a half rotations, degree of difficulty 2.8' (205C), scoring only 47.60 points and dropping to 15th place. She was unable to recover afterward and finished the semifinals in 13th place.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, Kim competed in the 3m springboard event and became the first Korean female diver to pass the Olympic preliminaries, finishing 15th in the semifinals. At the Paris Olympics, she again advanced to the semifinals, marking the first time a Korean female diver has reached the semifinals in two consecutive Olympics.

Korea’s leading male diver, Woo Haram (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation), has advanced to the finals in three consecutive Olympics: 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2021 Tokyo, and this current Games. However, no Korean female diver has reached the finals in this competition.

In February this year, Kim Suji won a bronze medal in the women's 3m springboard at the 2024 Doha World Championships.

Kim, who became Korea’s first World Aquatics Championships medalist by winning bronze in the 1m springboard at the 2019 Gwangju World Championships, also earned medals at the 2024 Doha Championships. She teamed up with Lee Jaekyung (Incheon Metropolitan City Sports Council) to win bronze in the mixed 3m springboard event at Doha.

Despite suffering a torn cartilage injury in her left knee in November last year and having insufficient training volume, Kim secured two medals at the Doha World Championships.

Leading up to the Paris Olympics, Kim pushed herself hard in training but suffered from muscle pain and neuralgia. Overcoming the pain, she succeeded in reaching the semifinals but unfortunately failed to advance to the finals.

[Image source=Yonhap News]