Krysta Palmer, daughter of a Schneider driver, makes U.S. diving history

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After a 33-year-long stretch of American women being absent from the individual 3-meter springboard Olympic podium, 29-year-old Krysta Palmer made history when she took home the bronze on August 1, 2021.

Krysta’s huge victory was extra sweet for Schneider, as she is the daughter of our very own professional company driver, Mitch Palmer.

Schneider rallies behind Krysta Palmer

Schneider’s support for Krysta and her dreams of winning a medal, started back in 2016 when the driver’s daughter tried out for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Unfortunately, Krysta didn't make the 2016 Olympic team, but Schneider continued to back the Palmer family during the next five years as Krysta tried for the 2020 games.

Schneider always did its best to get Mitch and his wife Vicki, who rides in the truck with Mitch, to Krysta’s competitions around the country. When Krysta qualified for the 2020 Olympic games on June 10 in Indianapolis, Vicki and Mitch were cheering for her from the stands.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Krysta’s parents were unable to travel to Tokyo to watch her compete. Instead, they took advantage of their time off and went back to Nevada so they could support their daughter from home.

Mitch and Vicki weren’t the only ones cheering for Krysta – Schneider associates across the country showed their support for the Olympic diver as well by:

• Hanging up banners and posters with photos of Krysta at their desks and throughout company facilities.

• Updating their Facebook profile picture with a frame that was created to support Krysta.

• Wearing red, white and blue during the first Thursday and Friday of the Olympic games.

Krysta's Olympic diving results

3-meter synchronized springboard

Krysta kicked off her 2020 Olympic games on July 25 by participating in the women’s 3-meter synchronized springboard with partner, 22-year-old Alison Gibson. Although the duo was tied for first with China after the first two rounds of diving, they ended the day in eighth place with a score of 263.49.

3-meter individual springboard

After finishing 15^th in the preliminaries and fifth in the semi-finals, Krysta advanced to the 3-meter individual springboard final on August 1.

She finished in third with a score of 343.75, behind China’s Shi Tingmao (383.5) and Wang Han (348.75). Krysta’s last dive of the finals, a piked forward 2.5 somersault with two twists, was the most difficult dive attempted during the competition and contributed to her earning the bronze medal.

What's next for Krysta?

While Krysta isn’t sure what’s in store for her immediate or long-term future, other than enjoying the sweet feeling of being an Olympic medal winner, one thing’s for certain: Whatever she decides, she’ll always have the support of Schneider.