Olympic Diving Results / Watch Live on NBCOlympics.com / Boilermakers in Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Purdue divers David Boudia and Steele Johnson advanced to the 10-meter semifinals at the Olympic Games after placing fourth and 18th in Friday's preliminaries.
The semifinals are set for 10 a.m. ET on Saturday. The top 18 divers from the preliminaries qualified and the top 12 in the semis move on to the finals Saturday afternoon. NBCOlympics.com is the best option for live video coverage of the semis and finals.
Boudia, the 2012 Olympic champion, qualified with 496.55 points for fourth in a preliminary field led by 2012 bronze medalist Tom Daley of Great Britain, who finished with 571.85 points. China's Qiu Bo, the 2012 silver medalist and reigning world champion, was second at 564.75 and Chen Aisen of China qualified third at 545.35. Scores do not carry over into the semifinals or finals.
Johnson scored with 403.75 points to sneak into the semifinals with the 18th and final qualifying spot. He was in fifth place after three rounds but missed his front 4 ½ tuck for just 37 points in round four and his last two dives scored between just 60 and 65 points.
Boudia scored more than 85 points on five of his six dives, but a 49.95-point front 4 ½ tuck distanced the 2012 gold medalist from the top three. He did respond with a strong finish after the lackluster showing in round three.
Johnson finished 5.6 points ahead of Canadian Maxim Bouchard, who was in 14th place with one round to go but faltered on his last dive to drop to 19th, allowing Johnson to secure the last spot into the semifinals.
"I'm feeling pretty frustrated. I do feel a sense of relief that I was able to get 18th place and am in the semifinals, but with a list like that, I shouldn't be making a semifinal at an Olympic Games," Johnson said. "I missed four dives. Personally, I'm not happy with how I performed, but it's exciting that I get the opportunity to do this again tomorrow. It was a struggle. I definitely knew it was a struggle the whole way through, but you've got to keep fighting."
Four years ago, it was Boudia who finished 18th in the 10-meter prelims at the Olympics to narrowly advance to the semis. But with a fresh start the following day, he not only qualified for the finals but also went on to win gold.
Following Saturday morning's semifinals, the top 12 divers will advance to the finals, which are set for 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday. Live video coverage will be available of both the semis and finals at NBCOlympics.com. Highlights of the finals will also be part of NBC's 8 p.m. ET telecast of Saturday's Olympic events.
Boudia and Johnson paired together to win the silver medal in the synchronized 10-meter event last week.
-- Story by Jen Lowery, USA Diving