Anton Down-Jenkins of Team New Zealand competes in the Men's 3m Springboard Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty Images.
Anton Down-Jenkins overachieved like no other Kiwi at the Olympics, leaping out of obscurity in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old diver from Wellington, who is based at the University of North Carolina, was best known before the Tokyo Games for declaring he was a gay athlete.
Even then, the Laurel Hubbard controversy overshadowed his stance.
But the 3-metre springboard specialist - our first male Olympic diver in 37 years - turned out to be an amazing sporting success story.
And unlike in most other Olympic sports, fulltime student Down-Jenkins has had to do it the hard financial way, competing in a sport he says gets no public funding.
The DIY diver, whose Games preparation suffered after he contracted Covid-19, threw off overwhelming self-doubt and the illness to survive the preliminary and semifinal stages and finish an amazing eighth in the final.
Down-Jenkins chatted to the New Zealand Herald from his American hometown of Chapel Hill, revealing the overwhelming Games pressure he felt, the importance of being an openly gay athlete, his inspirational sister, how scary diving can be, and his dream of a Kiwi dive team going to the 2024 Paris Games.
What was your reaction to your amazing final placing? Has your life changed already?
I was absolutely stoked. There wasn't a universe in which I imagined finishing eighth in the Olympics.
The biggest change is my social media presence - especially on Instagram. I've gone from 4000 to 14,500 followers - a pretty significant platform now.
And there are definitely more opportunities for sponsorships, which is very warmly welcomed.
It's very much a self-funded sport in New Zealand. I would like to think my performance might help diving receive some formal funding…fingers crossed.
Did you exceed your expectations?
I didn't really have any expectations…I wasn't even sure of qualifying and had to re-set when I did.
Initially I was a mess in Tokyo, with imposter syndrome. I reached out for help from one of the sports psychologists, went and had a cry to her, and she helped calm me down.
I felt I wasn't good enough to be in the team, especially with the controversy around some eligible athletes not getting selected because they didn't meet NZOC criteria.
Once I made the top 18 I enjoyed it a bit more, waved at the camera, gave a few smiles here and there.
But the entire Olympic experience wasn't a completely positive one because of how stressed out and overwhelmed I was in the first few days.
What was the team spirit like in Tokyo, particularly under covid restrictions?
You were supposed to stay in your own bubble and being the only diver, it was a bit tricky…it was a bit lonely when I came back to the village. But the New Zealand support staff did a great job of keeping everyone sane. They set up an area in the lobby of our building and always had a few Kiwi treats. I indulged in more mellow puffs and toffee pops than I'd like to admit.
If you weren't a diver…
I'm enrolled full-time as a student - it's a requirement to compete in the NCAA sports system in the States. Five classes and full workload, on top of training 25 hours a week. It's bloody hard, very stressful and time consuming.
I'm pursuing a double degree in advertising/PR and sports administration. I want to come home and it would be cool to work in the NZOC or for High Performance Sport.
Why is it so important for you to be an openly gay athlete?
It is something I asked myself leading into the Olympics.
The more I thought about the lack of LGBT representation especially in the New Zealand sporting media, the more I thought this is something I can actively do.
Being gay, queer, in the LGBT community has never been a defining factor in my sporting career, and I haven't let it define me.
But when I was growing up, there wasn't a male gay athlete where I could go 'they're like me'.
I'm lucky there is that representation in diving - (Brit) Tom Daley who became the Olympic champion, and (Australian) Matthew Mitcham who won gold in Beijing.
That acceptance isn't a reality for athletes in other sports all over the world. In stereotypical heteronormative sports that are very alpha masculine dominant, like rugby or soccer, you still see so many cases of homophobic language and that type of stuff.
Can inclusivity reach a point where it's not even an issue anymore?
I'm quietly hopeful. We had the most out athletes ever at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. We're tracking upwards, but there is a long way to go in my opinion.
What has the response been like? Did any messages strike a particular chord?
People have supported, congratulated and thanked me.
One man said that watching me as an openly gay man at the Olympics was emotional because when he competed as an elite athlete he felt he couldn't come out…it wasn't safe to do so.
He was really proud of me and assured me I was paving a way and inspiring the younger generation.
Your Tokyo tactics involved lower degree of difficulty dives. Does this change for Paris?
Initially, I wanted to stick to my guns, but to get anywhere close to a medal I have to increase my degrees of difficulty.
I've reached a point where the next dives are bloody hard and really scary. There's a lot for your body and mind to learn…and not to freak out when you're doing it. I'm not the bravest diver out there. I get a bit scared. There is such a small margin of error in terms of hurting yourself.
There are quite a few concussions although I've never had one. People don't understand how much will power you need.
What is your worst wipeout?
I was diving at an outdoor pool before the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018. In general, you spot the water each rotation, catch a glimpse of blue, so you know when the water is coming up. It's all about visual cues. But it's really easy to get the sky and water mixed up outside, which I did. My face and chest took all the impact…I got two black eyes, I couldn't breathe, and had to be lifted out by two lifeguards.
Why are the Chinese so good - can you ever hope to match them?
They dominate because kids are scouted from the age of three, four, five. And they don't go to normal schools.
The 14-year-old girl who won the 10 metre is doing the hardest dives in the world perfectly. It's absurd.
I was in the same training group as the Chinese in Tokyo, and it was one reason I was so overwhelmed. They were getting 9.5s on dives I will never even attempt. Catch them? I can't answer that…it's not impossible.
Diving appears to be a friendly sport…do competitors try to psyche each other out in any way?
The diving community is generally very supportive. I stay in my own little bubble, don't watch the competition, put on the headphones and listen to some ABBA…always the Mamma Mia! soundtrack with Meryl Streep. It calms me down.
I can probably sing every song word for word and recite the whole movie to you actually. It's only ever ABBA, nothing else. Divers walk past as I'm doing my little dance…it works for me.
Did you have a childhood hero or inspiration?
I always wanted to be like my older sister Ngaere. We started diving at the same time. Mum put us in a Have-A-Go diving day when I was 10, and we were put in a talent identification squad. Ngaere excelled at any sport - I was always trying to be as good as her. She's now a dancer in the NZ Dance Company.
Has Tokyo fuelled your enthusiasm for the 2024 Paris Games?
Absolutely. I've already picked off the goals I set for the next five or six years. So, it's back to the drawing board.
Coming to university in the states was life changing - it's how I got to the Olympics.
But diving in New Zealand is growing - I could happily train there now. I'm most excited about the potential of being in a proper diving team in Paris. It was quite stressful being the only one.
Let me tell you, we have some talent in New Zealand man…15, 16, 17-year-olds who are so much better than I was at that age. It is so exciting.
I hope I've opened their eyes to what they can achieve, like (Kiwi diver) Lizzie Cui did for me when she went to the Rio Olympics.
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