"To those on the outside, this may look like an embarrassing failure."
The Olympic journey of Team USA diver Alison Gibson came to a heartbreaking end on Wednesday when she hit her heels on the board and received a score of 0.0 on her very first dive at the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
The shocking moment happened during the preliminary round of the women's 3m springboard competition on day 12 of the Paris Olympics. Gibson had been in the tucked position of her somersault when the bottom of her feet suddenly collided with the springboard with a loud bang. She fell into the water as the crowd could be heard gasping audibly, and her effort was judged as a non-dive.
Although the 25-year-old finished her four remaining dives without incident with a total score of 198.30, the zero point score still resulted in her finishing dead last and unable to advance to the semifinals.
"I hit my heels and my feet on the board," Gibson explained to reporters, via NBC's Olympics website. "I have cuts along the sides, and then I bruised my right heel pretty good, but I was determined to keep going."
"But one thing that I say is I hope that anyone who is watching just was able to see what it looks like to get up and keep going even when things don't go the way you want them to. It's about the fight," she continued. "Obviously, today didn't go the way I wanted it to, but I think you can learn and grow from every experience, and I truly hope that the next generation of athletes recognize that even in the worst moments you can keep fighting, you can walk courageously."
And although Gibson's time in the Olympic spotlight still did not go as she hoped, she later posted footage of the ill-fated dive on Instagram, explaining that nothing like that had happened in her 15 years of participating in the sport.
"I kept my chin up and kept fighting until the end of that event," Gibson wrote in text overlaying the video. "That's what being an American is about. It's about standing strong with grit and perseverance through highs and lows. This is far from the outcome I wanted but I fought with everything to represent my country as well I could and I'm proud of that."
"To those on the outside, this may look like an embarrassing failure. But to me this journey to the Olympics has been anything but a failure," she added. "And I pray my grit can inspire others to keep fighting even when they feel like all is lost."
Gibson previously competed in the 2020 Tokyo Games in the synchronized springboard event, held in 2021 due to the pandemic, but finished last in that competition as well.
