Quebec's Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Saskatchewan's Rylan Wiens are currently preparing for the Paris Olympics, where they are aiming for nothing less than a podium finish.
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“We have known each other for a very long time. The chemistry is right. We're having a lot of fun,” said Zsombor-Murray at the end of training in the Olympic Park swimming pool, a few days before the start of the diving World Cup in Montreal.
Six months before the Olympics, the duo continues to perfect their bond. Although they have been together since they were nine or 10 years old, the two young men have only been together since 2022, following the retirement of Vincent Riendeau, with whom the Tokyo resident of Pointe-Claire finished fifth at the Games. Not to mention that the first Canadian pair to win a medal (bronze) at the World Championships in the men's 10-meter synchronized event (Budapest 2022) had done very little diving together last year due to an injury.
Olympic Games like no other
On February 8, the two friends recovered and qualified for Paris 2024 by placing fifth at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Vienna also offered a ticket to France in the 10-meter individual competition. The 22-year-old athlete took 19th place at the Tokyo Games. As for Zsombor-Murray, his participation in the next Olympics is not yet guaranteed as he finished six places ahead of his compatriot in Japan.
“It was strange in Tokyo because there was no one in the stands because of the pandemic,” the 20-year-old recalled. We had to do COVID tests every day. The worst thing was that after the competition ended you had to leave the village and return home. When I competed, there were no other teammates or anyone present.
“I thrive on encouragement”
This week, Zsombor-Murray has a chance to compete in front of those close to him.
“I enjoy the encouragement and applause,” he said. There's nothing better than having people scream when you do a good jump, especially when I know it's my friends and family screaming in the crowd. It gives me energy.”
▶ Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens both qualified for the individual 10m platform final on Saturday. Then on Sunday they will team up to try to climb to the podium in the synchronized 10-meter dash.