British Asian diver Kyle Kothari is making waves at the Paris Olympics. His stunning performance has inspired a new generation. The 26-year-old, advanced to the 10m platform semi-finals before ultimately securing a commendable 11th place finish. This is a remarkable achievement in a sport historically dominated by Chinese divers. (Medal Table | Schedule & Results | Full Coverage)
Having clinched silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the 10m mixed synchronized platform and secured European golds in both the 10m mixed synchronized and 10m synchronized platform events, Kotharm set his sights at the Olympics.
An Asian Roots Player In A Not So Asian Sport
The 26-years-old Kothari is believed to be the first athlete from a UK Jain family to compete at the Olympics, is aiming to make a big splash beyond the diving pool.
Data from Sport England shows that a giant 93% of the UK's Asian adults do not swim. This actually happens to be very high in people of South Asian origin.
Kothari hopes that his Olympic platform can show others from similar backgrounds that he can, inspiring greater participation in sport from communities like these.
For Kothari, the Olympic dream was almost shattered before it ever got under way.He ruptured both his Achilles tendons—it was a nightmare. But this tough guy didn't give up.
Instead, he fought back from the brink and renounced a very promising finance career to focus entirely on diving. Yet I know it's all worth it today—ache and labor—now standing on the world's biggest sporting stage.
His dream to win an Olympic medal survived three devastating injuries since 2015, including two achilles ruptures that dashed his hopes of participating in both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.
But after stamping his mark on the international stage by winning two golds at the 2022 European Championships.
