BBC co-commentator Leon Taylor was irate when he ordered the Olympic judges to do their job following a moment when Olympic diver Maia Biginelli delivered a frightening dive during the 10-meter dive in the platform semifinal.
A veces se nos olvida cómo los clavados pueden ser un deporte de alto riesgo. Aquí la cabeza de la italiana Maia Biginelli pasa a un par de centímetros de la plataforma en lo que podía haber sido un trágico accidente pic.twitter.com/6v42iQsjfF
— Martín del Palacio (@martindelp) August 5, 2024
Italy’s Biginelli attempted a 3.2-difficulty three-and-a-half somersault inward dive in the tuck position during Monday’s semi at the Paris Aquatics Centre, which left Leon Taylor irate at the judges.
The crowd at the Paris Aquatics Centre was stunned as the replay showed the Italian coming within inches of smashing her head against the platform.
Maia Biginelli likely had zero clue how close she came to tragedy until she got out of the pool and saw the replay.
In the midst of her dive, Leon Taylor fiercely stated, “Judges, you need to do your job now!
“You didn’t do it this morning. Do your job now. That is a dangerous, dangerous dive.
“Her hair hits the diving board, she should be massively penalised for that. Her hair pretty much hits the board.”
Taylor was unwilling to let the judges off the hook over the dangerous dive from Maia Biginelli, stating, “What are you watching from your seats? What are you watching?
“We’ve got a duty of care in this sport to keep athletes safe.
“You’ve got to penalize. Coaches, you can see that as well.”
In the end, Biginelli received a 41.60 score for her dive, but there was no sign of a penalty.
However, as coaches reviewed the footage of her dive, she appeared to be notified of the “frightening” move.
Italy Diver Maia Biginelli Has Won Zero Olympic Medals In Her Career
In 2018, Italy’s Biginelli became European champion in the girls’ category, and in 2019, she won the European bronze in the synchro in the junior category, per Parigi2024.com.
At the age of 20, she found out she would compete in Paris for the Olympics.
However, her efforts have not yet led to her winning an Olympic medal in her young career.
It’s not all bad, as she does have three bronze medals during the Diving Grand Prix competition.