Duke's McCrory wins Olympic bronze medal

Blue Devil diver Nick McCrory and his partner David Boudia have taken the bronze medal in the men's synchronized 10-meter platform competition at the Olympic Games in London. It was the first medal by an American team in the history of the event, which debuted in 2000.

The United States had gone 12 years without an Olympic diving medal, but have now won medals in consecutive days, when Duke's Abby Johnston and partner Kelci Bryant earned a silver medal in the women's synchronized 3-meter springboard Sunday. Johnston and McCrory were the first members of the Duke diving program to ever qualify for the Olympics.

The Blue Zone's post from Johnston's silver-medal performance yesterday can be found here.

McCrory and Boudia finished with a total score of 463.47 points after six dives. China's Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan ran away with the competition, winning the gold medal with a score of 486.78. They finished 17.88 points ahead of their next closest competitors, Ivan Garcia Navarro and German Sanchez Sanchez of Mexico. The Mexican team finished 5.43 points ahead of McCrory and Boudia.

The American pair were able to outlast the team from Great Britain, the fourth place finishers, by 8.82 points. The British team of Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield was one of the favorites in the competition.

McCrory now has a bronze medal of his own to match his uncle, Gordon Downie, who swam for Great Britain and earned the bronze for Great Britain at the 1976 Games. Our story about McCrory's relationship with his Olympian uncle can be found on The Chronicle's main page.

Continuing his Olympic journey, McCrory will compete August 10 in the men's individual 10-meter platform event, where he and Boudia will represent the United States. McCrory will have the chance to become just the second athlete in Duke history to win multiple medals in the same Olympics, joining swimmer Nancy Hogshead, who earned four medals at the 1984 Games, including three golds.

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