There are eight events in Olympic diving.
The program contains four men’s and four women’s events. Each gender competes in the individual 3-metre springboard and 10-metre platform, plus synchronized 3-metre springboard and synchronized 10-metre platform. This structure was used at the 2024 Paris Olympics and has also been used since the 2000 Sydney Games.
Synchronized diving was the major change that expanded the Olympic schedule. Before Sydney, the program generally had four events in total: individual springboard and platform competitions for men and women. Adding synchronized versions doubled the number to eight.
Diving has a much longer Olympic history than the modern eight-event format. It debuted at St. Louis 1904, when the program included unusual contests such as plunge for distance. Men’s springboard diving arrived in 1908, women’s platform diving in 1912, and women’s springboard diving in 1920. Those historical variations explain why older Olympic programs may list a different number.