In perhaps the most relatable mishap at the Commonwealth Games so far, one diver has been left in some serious pain after a misjudged jump turned into a horrific belly flop.
We’ve all been there, thinking we had timed everything perfectly for a graceful dive into the water, only to land face and stomach first with a loud smack.
It’s enough to take all the air out of your lungs normally, but Sri Lankan star Dulanjan Fernando had some serious height before his failed stunt.
Fernando was getting primed and ready for his final 1-metre springboard dive in the preliminary round.
The Sri Lankan athlete completely mistimed a 2.5 somersault tuck as he landed horizontally on the water, with the splash matched with a chorus of ‘oooohs’ from the audience.
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Fernando came up gasping for air in seriously stomach-churning stuff.
Former silver medalist Leon Taylor commented: “Just showing us how difficult that dive is and how difficult diving is.
“That’s lucky it’s on the one metre because he’s winded.”
Whilst it certainly didn’t look the prettiest, the dive won over the fans in attendance, who could perhaps relate to the feeling Fernando was going through.
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The judges were less than impressed with the dive though, giving out scores as low as 1.0 for the 3.0 difficulty dive, scores which were met with boos from the Birmingham crowd and left Fernando unhappy as well.
Online, however, fans were a bit more sympathetic.
One said: “There is something I relate to… a cracking bellyflop that was.”
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Another said: “Ouch ouch OUCH!!!!”
Whilst another wrote: “Much more entertaining than a well-executed dive.”
Meanwhile, one fan actually called for bellyflopping to be included at the next games.
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They said: “I immediately call for ‘bellyflopping’ to be recognised and integrated as a separate sport. This is precision.”
The Games are Fernando’s first major competition in four years after missing out on qualifying for Gold Coast in 2018 and Visa Issues preventing him from competing ever since.
He finished with a total score of 188.15, unsurprisingly finishing in last place as the 11th overall diver.
Thankfully for the Sri Lankan however, he will still be able to compete in the final as there were only 11 competitors in the category.
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Expect him to have bandages taped up across his stomach to prevent any further injury.
Jayden Collins