FILE PHOTO: Diving - World Aquatics Championships - Hamad Aquatic Centre, Doha, Qatar - February 7, 2024 Jamaica's Yona Knight-Wisdom in action during the men's 3m springboard semi final REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - Jamaica's team captain for the Paris Olympic Games is not from track and field, a sport the country is known for, but from diving as Yona Knight-Wisdom looks to inspire the younger generation of his country to follow in his footsteps.
Knight-Wisdom, 29, was the Caribbean island nation's first ever male diver to have made it to the Olympics when he qualified for the men's three-metre springboard event in Rio eight years ago.
At 1.9 metres and 90 kilogrammes, Knight-Wisdom, who is Black, stands out in the diving mix.
Now his third time competing in the Olympics in Paris, Knight-Wisdom said he hopes to be an inspiration to young people with his unique presence in the sport.
"Me in diving is very unique for multiple reasons. I'm one of the very few Black divers that compete at the highest level," he told Reuters on Wednesday outside the Olympic Village.
"I'm extremely tall, so just being there and competing and sharing what I can do, hopefully can inspire young kids that maybe don't look like the traditional diver to believe that they can do it with a bit of hard work and some good coaching."
Born in Leeds, Knight-Wisdom started diving in Britain and decided to represent Jamaica 10 years into his career so he could compete at higher levels amid less competition.
"To be one of very few non-track and field athletes that's competed at the Olympics, and probably even fewer that's competed at multiple Olympics. It's really cool," he said.
"I hope that I've been able to put Jamaica on the diving map in terms of the diving world, but also, on the flip side, put diving on Jamaica's map."
When he was younger, Knight-Wisdom would look up to athletes such as seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who won gold medals in the 100-metres and 200m sprints in three consecutive Olympics.
Tom Daley, who is one year older than Knight-Wisdom and won silver in the men's synchronised 3-metre platform event on Monday, is also one of his role models.
"Hopefully my presence can (also) inspire young kids to push and do whatever they want to do, regardless of what they look like and what their body shape is like," he said.
As Jamaica's top diver, Knight-Wisdom trains in Edinburgh because there are no springboards in Jamaica's pools, a situation Knight-Wisdom said he would try to fix.
He is also planning to develop a diving foundation in the years to come. But for now, he said he's focused on getting into the final of 3-metre springboard event on Aug. 6.
"I made the semi-final in both Rio and Tokyo, and I want more," he said. "But regardless, I'm just trying to drink this all in, enjoy it as much as possible."
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
