World Championships: American High Diver James Lichtenstein Wins Gold
American James Lichtenstein was crowned the world champion in the men’s high diving event at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, sealing it with a sensational final dive.
Second place went to Spain’s Carlos Gimeno in the 27-meter event. Veteran Constantin Popovici of Romania won bronze.
Lichtenstein is the first American to win high diving since Steven LoBue won the event in 2017. The last American male high diving medal was LoBue’s silver in 2019. LoBue now coaches Lichtenstein at his training base of Fort Lauderdale.
“It’s a huge honor,” Lichtenstein said. “I’ve been training really hard for this. I had a tough start to the season for me, but I’ve been training really hard. It’s a new format. These guys, we’re all doing more dives than we’re used to, but we all train accordingly. I knew my DD is in the higher end of the range, but there are people who have higher DD than me, so I was going to put in the work that I needed to do.”
Lichtenstein, 30, is a native of Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He was fourth at the 2024 World Championships and seventh in 2023. He won a silver medal at the World Aquatics High Diving World Cup. He makes it two medals in two days for the Americans, with Maya Kelly taking bronze in the women’s 20-meter event.
Men’s high diving medalists, from left: Carlos Gimeno of Spain, James Lichtenstein of the United States and Constantin Popovici of Romania; Photo Courtesy: World Aquatics/Singapore 2025
Lichtenstein was third, behind Popovici and Gimeno, after Thursday’s four-round preliminary at Palamar Green on Sentosa Island. But he moved to second for the final two rounds thanks to the new format in Singapore of counting only the compulsory Round 1 and Round 3 dives.
Gimeno led after the fifth round, scoring 143.10 points on his 20(10)C. Lichtenstein was 24.70 points back, scoring 120.40 on his 629C, while Popovici fell from first to fourth, with Mexico’s Jonathan Paredes moving onto the podium by 12 points.
Lichtenstein blew his competitors away in Sunday’s sixth and final round. He scored 143.10 points on his 20(10)C. Diving last, Gimeno managed only 114.80 on his 629C, stumbling out of his handstand. The score was the seventh-best of the round, letting Lichtenstein get 3.60 points ahead of him.
“I wasn’t happy with my fifth-round dive, but that’s the name of the game,” Lichtenstein said. “Everyone hits and sometimes you miss, but I am absolutely thrilled right now. I know I can dive well, but to put it together when it counts is a thrilling feeling.”
“I thought I had it there, but I think the pressure (got to me) a little bit and I went a little bit too fast,” Gimeno said. “I’m not used to that, and then I couldn’t control so I landed a little bit over. I was so close. I am a little bit disappointed, but always chin up. This is what happens in the sport. It’s like this – sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t finish first.”
Popovici jumped over Paredes by 1.3 points for bronze, scoring 141.00 on the round.
Popovici, 36, won his second career Worlds medal. He had been the champion in Fukuoka in 2023. Paredes missed out in his fourth career medal at Worlds, dating to 2013.
“I feel good, I’m happy,” said Popovici, who was eighth in Doha last year. “Everybody is wishing for gold … the best place possible. A lot of us could have taken gold today. A lot of us could have been out of the podium. That’s how it is in the competition. Like swimming, you can miss by a few seconds or here, a few points. I’m really grateful for this year’s bronze.”
Gary Hunt of France, a five-time medalist including as the 2015 and 2019 champion when he represented Great Britain, finished sixth. He had won silver in Doha and bronze in Fukuoka. Romania’s Catalin Preda likewise missed a chance to medal for the third straight edition, landing fifth.
“I’ve been looking up to those guys for years, and I started competing only four years ago,” Lichtenstein said of the veterans in the field. “It feels like it’s been a while, but it’s only been four years. That first year for me was like the adjustment period of, ‘Oh, I’m diving with these idols, but I know I can compete with the best of them.’ Now we’re all friends, we’re competitors, but we’re friends.”
Lichtenstein’s fellow Americans David Colturi and Scot Lazeroff made the final, finishing eighth and 11th, respectively.
