Former Gophers diver Sarah Bacon wins silver medal at Paris Olympics in synchronized springboard event

The first medal won by the United States at the Paris Olympics has a Minnesota connection.

Diver Sarah Bacon, a five-time NCAA champion for the Gophers from 2018 to 2022, won a silver medal Saturday with Kassidy Cook in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard event. Bacon and Cook, a two-time Olympian from Texas, train with Gophers diving coach Wenbo Chen, who is with them in Paris.

Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen of China took gold with 337.68 points on five dives. Supported by boisterous friends and family members wearing “Cook N’ Bacon” shirts, Bacon and Cook had 314.64 points, followed by Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen of Great Britain with 302.28 points.

Bacon, an Indianapolis native, is the third Gophers diver to win an Olympic medal. Craig Lincoln was a bronze medalist in springboard in 1972, and Kelci Bryant, also coached by Chen, took silver in the synchronized springboard event in 2012.

“I’m so in shock and ecstatic,” Bacon told NBC’s Andrea Joyce in an interview after the medal ceremony.

Three years ago, at what seemed like the height of her career, Bacon just missed qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. She entered her third U.S. Olympic trials having recently won two of her NCAA titles, Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year and silver at a recent World Cup.

But Bacon and Cook, close friends who have competed together since 2019, finished second in the synchronized event, missing out on the only American spot. Then Bacon finished third in the individual 3-meter springboard, when the top two qualified for the Olympics.

Bacon, who has overcome back and shoulder surgeries, concussions and an Achilles injury in her career, said she was planning to retire after the Tokyo Games. But not making the Olympic team lit a fire under her to keep competing.

“I was burned out and ready to be done,” Bacon said Saturday. “So not making the Olympic team kept me around diving and brought me to this Olympic games with Kassidy. To be on the award stand with the silver medal is just unbelievable. I have no words to describe it right now.”

Bacon, 27, also qualified for the individual springboard event in Paris and will compete again Aug. 7-9.

China won seven of the eight diving events in Tokyo and is aiming for a sweep this time. Chang and Chen also won gold in the last three world championships.

The Chinese pair went first in each round, followed by Bacon and Cook, who performed the same dives. Bacon told reporters that following China “helped us dive better.”

“The Chinese have been the gold standard in diving for decades,” Cook, 29, said. “But we are peers with them, and the goal is to beat them one day. They are amazing competitors and hardly ever mess up. ... We’re not too far off.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.