SAINT-DENIS, France — Nothing is going to spoil Paris for Jessica Parratto. Not after unexpectedly making it to a third Olympic Games.
The Indiana University graduate teamed up with Delaney Schnell to finish sixth in synchronized 10-meter platform Wednesday at the Olympic Games.
They won a silver medal at Tokyo three years ago, and this does not override that. Parratto, now 30, thought her diving days were done.
“I think going in, we had that mentality, whatever happens, happens,” she said. “We’re going to enjoy this. Obviously, we’re the athletes that we are, we want to do well and are obviously disappointed when we don’t."
“At the same time, in the grand scheme of things, diving is such a small part of your career," Parratto added. "We just want to appreciate these moments because they’re fleeting, and they’ll be done in a moment. It’s just about perspective.”
China has never lost this event at an Olympics, raising its record to 7-0. Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan won the gold medal with 359.10 points.
Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Rae were second with 315.90, earning North Korea’s first-ever medal in diving. Great Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson were bronze medalists with 304.38.
The Americans’ score was 287.52, or nearly 17 points off the podium. They were eighth after their first dive and never climbed higher than sixth.
“It’s those little tiny pieces of timing that can really just change the sport completely,” said Schnell, 25, of Tucson, Ariz.
Parratto and Schnell won bronze at the 2023 World Championships.
“We’re confident in what our abilities are,” Parratto said. “So we know, and still know, we could do what everyone on the podium just did. Again, diving is so different every day. Sometimes it’s us, sometimes it’s not.”
At least it was an authentic Olympic atmosphere. The pandemic caused Tokyo to be effectively without spectators.
“This is truly what the Olympic experience is about, to have all the fans in the stands,” Parratto said. “Hearing ‘USA’ is really special. Even more so than that, having our families in the stands. Really excited to spend time with them now.”
This was Parratto’s last diving in Paris, although she declined to say whether these five dives were the last of her career. She plans to see other sports, such as gymnastics, track and field, swimming and fencing.
She is a native of Dover, N.H., and a former NCAA champion for the Hoosiers. She competed in both individual and synchro 10-meter at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
After winning Olympic silver with Schnell, she retired, relocated from Bloomington, Ind., to Philadelphia and became a health care recruiter, assisting nurses in the emergency room.
In early 2023, Schnell coaxed Parratto out of retirement, and the Hoosier diver returned to Bloomington.
Parratto is the daughter of swim coach Mike Parratto, who has coached Jenny Thompson and Regan Smith, winners of 12 and four Olympic medals, respectively. Smith won a silver in the 100-meter backstroke Tuesday night.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.