THAT’S GOTTA HURT: Defending Olympic champion BELLY FLOPS in diving competition
TWO Olympic divers, including the defending champion, turned the Rio games into a belly flop competition with a series of embarrassing dives.
Ahmad Amsyar Azman and Ilya Zakharov belly flop at mens 3m springboard event in Rio
The games are meant to be the pinnacle competition of the sport but the calibre of the athletes was taken down a notch this week.
Ilya Zakharov, London 2012’s gold medalist, put in a belly flopping display meaning he would not defend his crown.
Ilya Zakharov flopped out of the competition
The 25-year-old Russian diver made it through to the semifinals but finished in a humiliating 18th position after his gaffe after earning zero points for his latest dive.
Entering the water as if he were on all fours, he created quite a splash in the pool.
Ahmad Amsyar Azman and Ilya Zakharov belly flop at mens 3m springboard event in Rio 2
Not to be outdone, Malaysia’s Ahmad Amsyar Azman struggled in the preliminary round as he hit the water flat on his stomach.
Surprisingly, his terrible attempt earned him 9.75 points.
The Russian made quite a splash
The Malaysian also bowed out the competition embarrassingly
But the 23-year-old finished last and failed to qualify for the three metre springboard semifinal event.
Chinese diver Cao Yuan led the field in both the preliminary round on Monday and the semifinal on Tuesday.
Yuan went on to win gold with Jack Laugher, representing Team GB, bagging a silver medal and Patrick Hausding snatching bronze.
Laugher has had a superb games after he took Britain’s first ever gold medal in diving with Chris Mears in the three metres synchronised discipline.