They've been training for this moment for years. All eyes are on them. They walk to the end of the diving board, ready to show off their special talent.
And then they flop. Literally.
Illya Zakharov, the reigning three-meter Olympic champion, belly flopped in the semi-finals Tuesday, reminding everyone that even the best in the world can feel the pain of a flop.
Zakharov was the fourth flop or near-flop in Rio. Here are all of them:
Zakharov failed to defend his gold medal after this belly flop resulted in a score of zero. According to diving rules, a belly or back flop is usually considered a failed dive and gets a score of zero.
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Russian diver Nadezhda Bazhina became a social media sensation for all the wrong reasons. She suffered the first flop of the Games - and as a result, the video spread like wildfire. Her backflop in the preliminary rounds of the women's three-meter springboard netted her a zero, and knocked her out of the competition.
Malaysia's Ahmad Amsyar Azman landed belly-down in the green diving pool on his final dive of the preliminary event.
Brazil's Luiz Felipe Outerelo attempted a reverse dive in the synchronized diving competition, but didn't pull cleanly out of pike. He needed to wobble his arms out like a child playing airplane to regain his balance. He managed to straighten out and avoid the flop - but he was not synchronized with his teammate, and his score reflected it.
