The first leg of the World Aquatics Diving World Cup took place over the weekend in Montreal, and some of our favorite athletes were in attendance.
And the best part is, they were collaborating with one another!
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Timo Barthel, a renowned human who recently secured Germany another spot in the 2024 Olympics, shared a picture on his Instagram story of Bryden Hattie and Tyler Downs recording an apparent video. In addition to being rising stars, the two are best friends, wowing audiences as the sport’s self-proclaimed “It Girls.”
If the title fits!
Last week, we covered Hattie’s fourth SEC title win for the University of Tennessee, the perfect capper to his collegiate career.
Just a few days later, Hattie found himself at Montreal’s Olympic Park. Per usual, we also found him gooning around with Downs.
We can’t wait for their next release!
With more than 1 million combined followers on TikTok, Hattie and Downs are major influencers. Whenever they get together, hilarity ensues.
Their latest extended collab came at last fall’s Pan Am Games in Chile, where they rewarded their fans with tons of BTS footage.
Given their incredible success, it’s possible, if not probable, that Hattie and Downs will both compete at the Olympics this summer. Downs represented Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Games, which is quite the accomplishment for anybody, but especially a teenager.
Downs made his Olympics debut at 17 years old.
“I’ve always had that little thought in the back of my mind that I wanted to be an Olympian, but I didn’t have a plan when it was going to happen,” he said in an interview at the time. “But for it to happen now, at 17, I was expecting it to happen in 2024.”
Though Downs achieved his Olympic dreams early, his success is no accident. A six-time individual national champion, Downs is also a three-time national champion. He instantly made his mark at the University of Purdue, capturing an NCAA Championship in platform diving as a freshman.
Downs was also an All-American in both the 3-meter diving and platform diving (he left Purdue in September 2022).
Though Downs has never publicly addressed his sexuality, it’s clear he’s comfortable in his own beautiful skin. He is, after all, a gay icon.
Just ask him!
Barthel, who also made his Olympics debut in Tokyo, is coy about his sexuality as well. When asked, he says he’s simply “human.”
“I am not given a name,” he said. “Human is human. It’s doesn’t matter which side you attracted to and It doesn’t matter which skin color you have. Human is human. All of our blood is red.”
It’s hard to argue with that! As far as humans are concerned, Barthel is at the top of the pack.
There is a long tradition of out gay diving greats, beginning with Greg Louganis and carrying over to Tom Daley. Speaking of Daley, the Olympic gold medalist also competed at last weekend’s World Cup, taking home a silver and bronze.
With his 30th birthday coming up in May, Paris 2024 could be Daley’s last Olympics (he came out of temporary retirement last summer). He couldn’t be handing over the baton to a better group.
As the Olympics near, we’ll certainly be on the lookout for more medals and collabs.
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