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Purdue’s reputation as a diving school is well known thanks to two men: David Boudia and Steele Johnson. Boudia won six national championships and four Olympics medals representing Purdue, including gold in the 2012 London Games. Johnson is a five-time national champion that was poised to break Boudia’s NCAA record of six career championships this year, but a foot injury kept him off the board during his final season. As a result, he officially announced today he is going pro:
This basically means he can accept sponsorships and prepare for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He won silver with Boudia in the 10-meter synchronized event at the 2016 games in Rio and competed in the individual 10-meter event, finishing 13th.
Steele has a great chance at capturing a medal in Tokyo next summer and this gives him more time to officially train and prepare for the games. Boudia is expected to compete in Tokyo as well, but only on the 3-meter after a concussion ended his 10-meter career.