Yona Knight-Wisdom makes history as first Jamaican Olympic male diver
Yona Knight-Wisdom, Jamaican diver, makes his Olympic debut by making history. The 21 year old is the first Jamaican male to enter the games held in Rio De Janeiro next month.
His weight, 198 lbs, is what he and other speculators believe allows him to reach a higher point from the springboard and create harder dives letting gravity aid him.
“My advantage is that I’m able to get a really clean entry into the water, so I make very little splash,” said Knight-Wisdom, who competes in the individual 3m springboard event. “I’m just aiming to keep it really, really simple and just try to get the most consistent performance, because I feel like people will make mistakes.”
Sponsored by British-Jamaican musician Levi Roots, he chose to represent Jamaica after struggling to get into the British diving team; Jamaica has only had one other Olympic diver, Betsy Sullivan, who was in the 1972 Games in Munich.
Knight-Wisdom is not letting the moment and opportunity pass him by, he says his main goal is to enjoy the occasion, admitting, his presence holds greater significance in breaking down stereotypes about divers.
“Some people do still get shocked when I say I’m a diver. To see an African-American diver kind of at the top level in this sport, there’s very few of us,” he said.
Knight-Wisdom, attending Leeds Beckett University, believes that he can influence and inspire other who don’t think that this is for them or that the market isn’t big enough or want to branch out and try different things.
