INDIANAPOLIS (KMOX) - St. Louis native Tyler Downs surprised everyone by beating a pair of former Olympians to win the men’s 3-meter springboard title at the U.S. diving trials on Sunday. The 17-year-old from Ballwin will represent his country next month at the Tokyo Olympics.
Downs will turn 18 before the Summer Games that begin on July 23. He finished with 1,333.75 points, which was better than two-time Olympic medalist David Boudia and 2016 silver medalist Michael Hixon, who finished in third and fourth places.
“My whole team, my mom, my grandma, my sister all came to support me, and I wanted to dive my best and put on a show,” Downs said.
“For Tyler Downs, I think everyone in this building had a tear for him," Boudia said. "And he has an exciting future and I’m super proud of him.”
Boudia, a gold-medal winner at the 2012 Olympics and bronze-medal winner in 2016, gave Downs a huge hug after the win:
Downs was born in St. Louis and has become a TikTok star known as the "Dancing Diver" with more than half a million followers:
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