American Athlete Scores 0.0 After Nightmare Dive at Paris 2024

American diver Alison Gibson endured a moment to forget at Paris 2024 in the Olympic 3m springboard contest after landing feet first in the water and being awarded a score of 0.0.

The 25-year-old was competing in the preliminaries of the event on Wednesday as she looked to book her place in the semi-finals.

The USA star, who’s competing in her second Olympics, got off to the worst possible start when she suffered a scary moment with her first dive of the event.

In an attempt to pull off an inward two-and-a-half pike, Gibson caught her feet on the board as she spun down towards the water. Afterwards, she left the pool area slightly frustrated as she held her hands to her face.

The Diver Suffered Some Slight Injuries

She was able to carry on with the event

Fortunately for the American, she didn’t suffer any major injuries – but came away slightly scathed – and was able to continue competing. The nightmare dive saw her awarded zeroes from every judge for the effort. After four dives, she ranked 27th out of 28 competitors.

“It drew gasps from the crowd as she landed in the water but, thankfully, she seems to be OK,” a BBC reporter said.

“I always end up holding my breath slightly when someone leaps backwards – it’s difficult to appreciate just how close the divers actually are to this tiny springy board. Ouch.”

She then followed that with scores of 49.50 (back 2.5 somersaults), 68.20 (forward 3.5 somersaults), and 58.50 (reverse 2.5 somersaults).

Despite improving after her initial effort, Gibson’s eventual score left her bottom of the pile at the end of the preliminary stage – with only the top 16 advancing to the semi-final stage. According to multiple reports, it was the first 0 score for any dive in the Paris Olympics so far.

Speaking to Reuters after the event, she said: “I hit my heels and my feet on the board. I have cuts along the sides. And then I bruised my right heel pretty good, but I was determined to keep going.

“I definitely was in pain. But one thing that I say is I hope that anyone who is watching just was able to see what it looks like to get up and keep going even when things don’t go the way you want them to. It’s about the fight.”