Tyler Downs is headed to Paris for his second Summer Olympics, representing Team USA. With his great sense of humor and good looks that have made him a social-media star, he’ll be one athlete to watch in Paris.
At just 20 years old, Downs is one of the youngest athletes on the nine-member U.S. diving team headed to the Paris Olympics.
He and his synchro partner, Greg Duncan, qualified for the Paris Olympics by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly newsletter is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
Downs has been a popular staple on social media for a while.
At the 2023 Pan American Games, he and fellow diver Bryden Hattie became sensations slaying on Instagram and TikTok.
Downs and Hattie, in case it wasn’t clear, are besties.
Downs has never publicly addressed his orientation. Either way, Americans and others will be cheering for him.
While Hattie won’t be representing his home country of Canada at the Paris Olympics, Downs will be there in Paris for Team USA. Hattie shared his story of being a gay athlete on Outsports, en route to yet another SEC diving championship.
Downs is massively popular on TikTok, where he has almost a million followers. There he lets his hair down and showcases his fun sense of humor. And yes, Hattie is well-represented on Downs’ social media, where Downs refers to himself as “gurl.”
Like ya do.
Tyler Downs has been on the world stage many times
Tyler Downs is no stranger to the international and world diving stage.
He competed at the Tokyo Summer Olympics after qualifying for Team USA in the men’s 3-meter springboard.
At the Tokyo Olympics, he didn’t make it out of the preliminary stage, finishing 23rd of 29 divers. He is a six-time U.S. junior diving national champion.
At the 2023 Pan American Games, Downs and partner Jack Ryan won a bronze in the 3-meter synchro. At last year’s World Championships, Downs was just off the medal podium with a fourth-place finish.
At the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, Downs qualified for Paris with diving partner Greg Duncan.
NBC caught the beautiful moment the two men realized they had punched their ticket for the Paris Olympics.
The duo will not be competing against Tom Daley and his partner, Noah Williams, as the Team GB pair will be competing in the 10-meter synchro event.
You can follow Tyler Downs on Instagram.
