RIO DE JANEIRO — David Boudia did not repeat as gold medalist but came back from near-disaster to win a hard-earned bronze in 10-meter platform diving Saturday night at the Olympic Games.
Chen Aisen of China took the gold medal with a massive score of 585.30 points. Chen, 24, was the silver medalist in Rio’s test event, the World Cup, in February. He won a gold in synchronized 10-meter at last year’s World Championships.
German Sanchez of Mexico overtook Boudia on his last dive to win the silver with a score of 532.70.
Boudia, who led after two of six rounds and was in second until the final round, finished with 525.25 points. He was past vertical on his last dive, a front 4 ½ somersault that vexed him in all three rounds, and had his lowest score, 68.45.
France’s Benjamin Auffret was fourth with 507.35, or 15 points behind Boudia’s bronze.
The Olympic medal is the fourth for Boudia, 27, of Noblesville, Ind. He teamed with Steele Johnson of Carmel, Ind., for a silver in the synchronized 10-meter event Aug. 8.
The only other male American divers with as many as four medals are Greg Louganis (five), Clarence Pinkston (four) and Mickey Galitzen (four).
In a sport that can be volatile, Boudia has not been. He finished second to Qui Bo at World Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2015, beating the Chinese diver in 2012 for Olympic gold at London.
Much has changed for him since London. He became a Christian, husband and father. He wrote an autobiography, “Greater than Gold,” in which he detailed his struggles with drugs, alcohol, smoking and suicidal thoughts.
Moments before his first dive, Boudia prayed with, and then hugged, his Purdue coach, Adam Soldati. They did so again after competition ended.
Rain began falling shortly before the competition began but soon stopped.
It was a tumultuous contest in which the 2012 silver medalist, reigning world champion Qui, badly missed two dives and finished sixth. The 2012 bronze medalist, Great Britain’s Tom Daley, was 18th in semifinals and did not make the cut to 12 finalists.
Boudia earned 10s from four of seven judges and scored 94.40 points on his second dive, an inward 3 ½ somersault tuck. That thrust him into first place.
He dropped to second in the third round, 16 points behind Chen, whose dive scored 102.60.Boudia’s back 3 ½ somersault pike in the fourth scored 90.00, keeping him second after four rounds.
He posted his biggest score, 102.60, with a fifth-round 2 ½ somersault with 2 ½ twists. Of seven judges, he received two 10s and four 9.5s.
Boudia did not make to the final by much, finishing 10th in semifinals earlier in the day. Scores are not cumulative, so everyone started from 0.00 to begin the final.
