HOUSTON – The road to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio just got a little bit easier for Woodlands diver Kassidy Cook.
USA Diving has received notification from FINA that it has been awarded a second women’s 3-meter spot for the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The U.S. initially had qualified one spot for women’s 3-meter and received the second spot when FINA, the international governing body for aquatic sports, reallocated unused quota spots.
Cook had a fantastic start to the diving trials earlier this week and stands in first place with now the top two divers earning spots on the Olympic team.
Notification of the second spot comes in the middle of the U.S. Olympic Team Diving Trials. The women’s 3-meter final is set for Sunday, June 26. With the addition of the second quota spot, two women’s 3-meter divers will be named to the U.S. Olympic Team.
Cook, who was seventh at the FINA World Cup in February to secure the first quota spot for the U.S., heads into the finals in first place with 660.85 points.
Abby Johnston sits in second place at 626.55 and holds a 14.95-point lead over Laura Ryan.
Unused quota spots were reallocated in order of finish at the FINA World Cup, where the top 18 divers earned spots for their countries. Johnston finished 20th on 3-meter at the World Cup, which put the U.S. second in line to receive a women’s 3-meter spot during reallocation.
A maximum of 136 divers, and no more than 34 on each individual event, may participate in the Olympic Games.