By Heidi Kirk, WRAL eastern Carolina reporter

Susan Anderson invited friends and neighbors over for a patriotic party Friday morning. She is cheering on her nephew in his quest for an Olympic medal.

Greg Duncan is a member of Team USA. He and partner Tyler Downs are set to dive before dawn in the men’s synchronized 3-meter springboard competition, and their cheering section will be watching from Wilson.

Parents Kari and Paul Duncan are in Paris to watch their son dive, but his aunt, uncle, cousins and grandparents have set their alarms to watch Greg dive around 5 a.m. EDT on Friday (11 a.m. in Paris).

Duncan said he’s grateful for his family’s support.

“Without them I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “Love you guys.”

Each team of competitors dives eight times, and the three with the top scores overall win gold, silver and bronze.

After six rounds, Duncan finished in 8th place, with his family cheering him on the whole way. China won gold, Mexico won silver and Great Britain won bronze.

“I mean, it’s like no feeling I’ve ever had in my life in athletics,” Duncan said. “It’s the biggest honor you could ever have as an athlete to go represent your country on the world stage. So I don’t take it lightly.”

Duncan, 25 is from Virginia and began his college diving career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but graduated from Purdue in 2022. He is a six-time national champion, and he and Downs were fourth at the most recent diving world championships.

Source: wralsportsfan.com