Douglas High graduate and Carson City native Krysta Palmer speaks to a crowd of about 50-75 people Monday in front of the Lawlor Events Center during her Olympic send off celebration.
Photo by Carter Eckl.
For Carson City native and University of Nevada alumna Krysta Palmer, diving in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics will be an accomplishment of a lifetime.In getting to this point, Palmer has stated several times she’s been overwhelmed with the support she’s received from her hometown fans.“I could not have become a champion without all of you and the support of all of my family, friends and teammates,” said Palmer. “My community has always been so supportive of me. The community that surrounds me and has given to this dream of mine … it’s just unbelievable to me and I want to thank my community for that.” Monday served as Palmer’s official Olympic send off in front of the Lawlor Events Center on the Nevada campus. For Palmer, nearly everything about her qualification for the Olympics and how she’s worked to get to this point has been historic. Palmer is the first American woman in history to qualify in two diving events in the Olympics – 3-meter individual and 3-meter synchronized. On top of that, Palmer and her partner Alison Gibson will be the first American women to bring or attempt the “double out” – also known as dive 5154B – at the Olympics. “Nobody in the U.S. is doing it,” said Nevada swim and dive coach Brendon Bray. Previously, male divers had only attempted/completed the double out at the Olympics. Heading with Palmer to the Olympic games will be Nevada’s head diving coach, Jian Li You, who will be the first female diving coach in USA Olympic history. “She gave me the opportunity,” said Palmer of You. “From there she said, ‘keep training and I will keep rewarding you.’” As a Wolf Pack volunteer coach, Palmer spent late nights working in a casino to help pay for her college education while in school at UNR as a walk-on on the diving team. Palmer competed on trampolines until she was 20 years old before transitioning to diving where she was twice named the Mountain West Conference’s Diver of the Year. The 29-year-old has battled through injuries and reflected on the road she took to becoming an Olympian on Monday during her sendoff. “It’s a real inspiration that if you set your heart to something and follow through with it, you can achieve great things,” said Bray. “The sky is the limit for Krysta.” Palmer’s first event in Tokyo will be the 3-meter synchronized July 24 at 11 p.m. Pacific Time. The individual 3-meter competition begins Thursday, July 29 with the semifinals on Friday and finals Saturday, July 31. All three days of competition in the individual diving will start at 11 p.m. PT. The opening ceremonies for the 2021 Summer Olympics are July 23.
