Sanchez Claims Silver in Men’s Individual 10m Platform Final at the 2016 Rio Games

2016 Rio Games

It’s another silver for Germán Sánchez

The 24-year-old Mexican diver, nicknamed “Duva,” claimed the silver medal in the Men’s Individual 10m Platform diving final at the 2016 Rio Games.

Germán Sánchez

China’s Chen Aisen emerged from a tightly contested field to claim the gold medal with 585.30 points.

Sanchez won the silver with 532.70 points and USA’s David Boudia, the reigning Olympic champion, totaled 525.25 to claim bronze.

The Guadalajara native won his first individual medal at the Olympics following his second-place showing at the 2012 London Games four years ago.

Along with Ivan Garcia, Sanchez won the silver in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform jump at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Sanchez & García Dive Their Way to a Silver Medal

London Olympics 2012

They may have gotten off to a sluggish start, but German Sanchez and Iván García threw caution to the wind in the final rounds to capture Mexico’s first medal at the 2012 Olympic Games

The 20-year-old and 18-year-old Mexican divers went all out on Monday with a very difficult dive and pulled it off to assure the dynamic duo the silver medal in the Men’s Diving: 10-Meter Synchronized Platform final at the London Games.

German Sanchez & Ivan Garcia

Garcia and Sanchez earned 468.90 points for second place behind champions Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan of China, who had 486.78.  The pair beat out U.S. divers Nicholas McCrory and David Boudia, who ended with a score of 463.47.

The Chinese divers, as well as Great Britain’s Thomas Daley and Peter Waterfield went ahead early in the final, while Sanchez and García found themselves in last place after their first two obligatory dives.

German Sanchez & Ivan Garcia

In their third dive, however, the pair moved into fifth place.

That’s when they decided to forget they were competing at the Olympics and visualize themselves alone with their trainer in their gym in Guadalajara. Sanchez and García executed an inward 4 1/2 somersault tuck with a 4.1 degree of difficulty, picking up 95.94 points to vault into second place, with only the Chinese ahead of them.

German Sanchez & Ivan Garcia

“We played it because it was the only way to fulfill this dream,” said Sanchez. “We could have failed because we tried something very difficult, but it worked out and here I have the medal.”

The silver medal was Mexico’s first of the London games and 56th overall.

German Sanchez & Ivan Garcia

Mexican President Felipe Calderon congratulated Garcia and Sanchez via Twitter.

“Congratulations to German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia, silver medal in 10-meter synchronized … Congratulations!” the president wrote.

The divers also received a shout-out from the governor of their home state of Jalisco, Emilio Gonzalez Marquez.

“Congratulations to @IvanGarciaPollo and to @DiverSanchez for giving Mexico its first silver medal. They are the pride of Jalisco,” the governor tweeted.