Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook made a splash at the 2024 Paris Olympics, earning the first medals for Team USA. The duo, dubbed “CookN’Bacon,” by the press, took home silver in the women’s three-meter synchronized diving event.
The duo earned a total score of 314.64, allowing them to secure a second place spot on the podium. They trailed behind the duo and three time world champions, Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen, who accumulated a score of 337.68 to secure the gold medal for China. Behind Bacon and Cook, Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen of Great Britain earned bronze with a score of 302.28.
Bacon and Cook’s acquisition of a silver-medal finish comes after the duo barely failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which took a heavy toll on the duo mentally.
“I was hoping to make the Olympic Games [in 2020] — that didn’t happen,” said Bacon after missing the last Olympics. “So being able to make the Olympic Games this time, and then also being able to do it in synchro with my best friend here at this Olympic Games, and then also walking away with the silver medal means I have no words to describe any of this.”
Not making the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games may have been a blessing in disguise, according to Bacon. Both competitors stated that as they reflected on their diving careers, missing Tokyo led them to a better result.
“Everything happens for a reason. Those games [2020 Olympics], although they were still the Olympic Games, they were not the true experience. And had we gone to that, we probably would have retired because we accomplished that goal. I’m really glad that we held on and made it here.” Cook told NBC.
Despite facing immense pressure from the Chinese team, Cook and Bacon maintained their ground against them. According to the pair, it was Chang and Chen’s strong performance that motivated them to keep fighting, which ultimately resulted in them getting silver.
“Obviously, we were diving behind the great team of China, so they were putting a lot of pressure on us. But seeing them hit their dives made us eager to hit our dives. I think that they made us better and I’m really happy to take away that silver,” Cook told NBC.
Bacon and Cook entered the match hot, scoring “49.80, 51.00, 71.010, 72.54 and 70.20,” in their respective rounds. Although the duo was slightly trailing behind Chang and Chen, their last three 70s secured them a spot on the podium.
Along with securing silver, Cook also became the first U.S. female diver to compete in the Olympics non-consecutively. She last competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Despite Cook’s time at the competition ending after winning silver, she’ll continue to stay in Paris to cheer on Bacon and the rest of the U.S. diving team.
As for Bacon, she qualified for the women’s three-meter springboard preliminaries, so she’ll compete again on Aug 7.
