European Games 2023: Timo Barthel wins men's 10m platform event to earn second Paris 2024 quota for Germany
Barthel follows teammate Wesemann in giving Germany a bigger presence at the next Olympic Games after a tense final that saw the experienced Olympian fend off a top-scoring dive from British youngster Robbie Lee.
Diving
A turbulent men's 10m platform final at the 2023 European Games in Krakow saw Timo Barthel reach the coveted leader's position at the start of the competition only to fall out of the medal standings and have to battle his way up back to the top.
Fighting off the persistent advance of a young British rival, the Tokyo 2020 Olympian soared back to no.1 with his final dive to earn a second Paris 2024 diving quota for Germany.
His teammate Moritz Linus Wesemann clinched the country its first diving quota, in the men’s 3m springboard, on Saturday (24 June).
Barthel scored his best dive in the second round. Raking in 89.10 points, it was also the highest-scoring dive of the evening. His third dive, however, scored just over half these points and saw the German diver plummet in the standings.
Shaking off the disappointment of falling from first to fifth place, Barthel continued to patiently improve his scores over the following rounds.
Meanwhile, his main rival, Great Britain’s Robbie Lee, also kept rising in the list.
The 2022 junior bronze medallist started the competition in eighth place and kept moving up until he cracked into the top three. Lee's fourth dive, which was the highest-scoring dive of the final at 96.20 points, was especially timely, helping him to jump from seventh to second place.
The young star's final dive fell short though, allowing Barthel to take the lead with 435.40 points to Lee's 413.20.
Italy’s Riccardo Giovannini finished third (411.20) with a consistent dive programme in which he never fell below 57 points.