Boudia Brings Home The Gold

Noblesville's David Boudia won an individual gold medal in the 10-meter platform diving competition at the Olympics in London yesterday, bringing his medal count to two after he earlier won a bronze in the 10-meter synchronized diving competition. It looked rather bleak for Boudia after he finished 18th out of 18 on Friday, barely making the semi-finals.

Boudia beat out the darling and local favorite in the competition, Britain's Tom Daley, who was satisfied winning a bronze medal in honor of his late father, who died last year from brain cancer. Daley convinced Olympic judges to let him repeat his dive after he claimed interference from flashing cameras. He received a standing ovation from the crowd after winning the bronze medal. China's Qui Bo seemed less than pleased with the silver medal he won in the competition. China has dominated men's diving in recent years. As the Daily Mail reported, "Boudia must have wondered who had won the Olympic title, while Bo looked like a man who understood that silver was not going to  placate the diving commisars back in China.

The Star's Bob Kravitz, who has been in London covering the Olympics, reported that Boudia's parents had to watch him win his gold medal from the cheap seats. Kravitz quotes Boudia's mother Sheilagh, as saying that it wasn't that many years ago that she had to bribe her son to dive from the 10-meter platform because of his fear of heights. “To think, 10 years ago, I was petrified to jump off that platform,’’ Boudia was saying Saturday night, his gold medal dangling from his neck. “And now, here I am, 10 years later, an Olympic champion. It’s crazy.’’