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Connor to challenge for Rio diving berth

Victorian diver James Connor is taking an Olympic-sized gamble after dumping one of his events to focus only on the men's three-metre springboard.

Regularly throwing his body from a 10m tower, Olympic diver James Connor isn't averse to taking risks.

But the 21-year-old Rio prospect has taken the biggest leap of his career after dumping the 10m platform event to focus only on the hotly contested three-metre springboard.

Four years ago, the Victorian competed in the men's 10m at the London Olympics after qualifying behind Beijing gold medallist Matthew Mitcham.

Then aged just 16, he narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-finals.

With Mitcham retiring early this year, the stage was set for Connor to emerge but he decided earlier this month not to compete in both events and only contest the three-metre event.

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"Me and my coach decided to focus all our attention, effort and resources into one event to be more competitive on the world stage," Connor said.

"It does look like a bit of a gamble ... but it's about what I want to achieve and I wanted to see how good I could be at the three metre."

There are two Rio berths available in both men's events but Connor admits competition in the three metre is tougher than the platform and it is probably "a bit crazy".

His biggest challenge is set to come fellow Victorian Grant Nel and Mexican Kevin Chavez, who had recently obtained Australian citizenship.

"There's a couple of great divers up on the 10m but I would say the competition is definitely tougher in the three metres," Connor said.

"The men's three metre in Australia is probably the strongest it's been in a good eight or so years."

The Olympic trials are a homecoming for Connor, who started his diving at the Ringwood club which is hosting the competition.

He's on a college scholarship at Indiana, where he's studying neuroscience.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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