SAINT-DENIS, France – Sarah Bacon endured years of injuries and disappointments before she could compete in an Olympic Games. It was worth the wait.

Bacon and Kassidy Cook won a silver medal in 3-meter synchronized springboard diving Saturday morning, seizing the first medal by any Team USA athletes at the Paris Olympics.

Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen finished first with 337.68 points, extending China’s streak to six consecutive gold medals.

Bacon, 27, of Indianapolis, and Cook, 29, of The Woodlands, Texas, were second with 314.64. Their last dive was a 2 ½ somersault with a twist in pike position, scoring 7.5s and 8s.

“When I hit the water, I was like, ‘We did it,’ ” Bacon said. “We are definitely going to be on the award podium.”

Great Britain’s Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen took bronze with 302.28.

Bacon and Cook led Australia’s Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith by less than one point, 244.44 to 243.60, with one dive left.

Smith slipped as she launched with just one foot on the end of the board, sending her off the right and ruining the dive. Australia dropped to fifth.

The Americans performed in front of family and supporters wearing Cook’N’Bacon T-shirts to the Aquatics Centre.

Bacon comes from a family of athletes.

Her father, Steve, played college basketball at George Mason. Her brothers -- Kevin, 28; Brian, 25, Brad, 24 – were all athletes at Cardinal Ritter. Kevin was a basketball player. Brian and Brad were on state championship teams in baseball and football, respectively.

More: 'What if I give diving one more shot?' Sarah Bacon's prolonged journey gets Olympics stop.

Only other American medalists in women’s 3-meter synchro were Kelci Bryant and Abby Johnson, silver in 2012.

The Chinese led Cook and Bacon by three points 103.8 to 100.8, through two low-difficulty dives before padding their lead over three harder ones.

This was the Olympic debut for both Chang, 22, and Chen, 25. They teamed for synchro golds at each of the past three World Championships.

Bacon had intended to retire from the sport after the 2021 Olympics but narrowly missed making the Tokyo team. After taking a few months off, she reconsidered and resumed training under her college coach, Wenbo Chen of Minnesota.

Bacon said she tried not to look at the scores in between rounds.

“I was super relaxed the entire time,” she said. “I think our Olympic Trials in the U.S. sets us up really well for this competition. Because our Olympic Trials is a lot more stressful than it is here.

"We’ve competed against these girls internationally before, so we know we’re capable of being on that podium.”

Bacon was once honored by USA Diving for overcoming adversity – multiple stress fractures in her back during teenage years. She underwent two shoulder surgeries while a college diver but became a five-time NCAA champion and 2021 Big Ten female athlete of the year.

Cook, meanwhile, has endured six surgeries in 12 years.

“This is freaking awesome. I don’t have any other words for it,” Cook said. “I’m so overwhelmed with emotion and overcome with feelings  . . . to reach this goal that I’ve had since I was 3 years old, that we’ve had as synchro team for five years.”

Bacon and Cook prepared for their Olympic moment by medaling at three World Cup stops this year.

The two are close friends, resembling each other in technique . . . and even beyond. They have a wardrobe of matching clothes –  shoes, socks, shirts, sweatshirts, leggings.

“It’s unbelievable what they have going on between them,” said Steve Bacon, father of Sarah. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life between two human beings.”

Bacon is not new to global podiums, having won a World Cup silver medal on 3-meter in 2021 and World Championships silvers on 1-meter (a non-Olympic event) in 2019 and 2022.

Bacon won state titles in 2013 and 2014 while at Ritter.  She is the fourth Indianapolis area diver in the past four Olympics to win a medal.

In 2016, Noblesville’s David Boudia and Carmel’s Steele Johnson won a silver on synchro 10-meter and Boudia a bronze on individual 10-meter.

In 2012, Boudia won two medals, including gold on individual 10-meter. Bryant, a 2005 state champion for Harrison High School, was an Indy resident at the national training center.

Bacon is not done at these Olympics. She has prelims, semifinals and final on individual 3-meter on Aug. 7, 8 and 9.

“I try not to think about medals,” she said. “Just going to try and go out there and dive my best. If I dive my best, I could be on the award podium again.”

She viewed Friday’s opening ceremony at an Olympic Village watch party. She said she didn’t stay up to see the Team USA boat because it was too late before a morning competition.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Paris Olympics sees Indy’s Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook win silver