SAINT-DENIS, France — Indianapolis diver Sarah Bacon will leave the Paris Olympics with one medal but not two.
Bacon, who had planned to retire three years ago before resuming her quest, finished 19th Wednesday in 3-meter springboard qualifying. Top 18 moved on to the semifinals at the Aquatics Centre.
Bacon had a score of 264.40 points, or eight less than the cutoff. The other American, Allison Gibson, was last out of 28 with 198.30.
Chen Yiwen, a five-time world gold medalist, had the top score of 356.40.
On July 27, Chen and Chang Yani won the gold in synchronized 3-meter, followed by Bacon and Kassidy Cook. It was the first medal won by Team USA in Paris.
Bacon narrowly missed out on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. After taking a few months off, she reconsidered retirement and resumed training.
Bacon was once honored by USA Diving for overcoming multiple stress fractures in her back during teenage years. She underwent two shoulder surgeries while a college diver but became a five-time NCAA champion at Minnesota and 2021 Big Ten female athlete of the year.
Bacon has three individual global medals: a World Cup silver on 3-meter in 2021 and World Championships silvers on 1-meter (a non-Olympic event) in 2019 and 2022.
She won state titles in 2013 and 2014 while at Cardinal Ritter High School.
In semifinals of men’s 3-meter, Indiana University’s Carson Tyler advanced with the seventh-place score of 438.00. A former IU diver, Andrew Capobianco, was 15th with 407.65 and eliminated.
The final is Thursday.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.