Diving at the 1908 London Summer Games:

There were two springboards used, one of 1 metre and one of 3 metres. Each competitor made seven dives, four compulsory and three optional. Two compulsory dives were made from the 1-metre springboard, a plain running dive and a running forward somersault; and two were made from the 3-metre springboard, a 1 somersault and a backward spring with forward dive. The optional dives were made from the 3-metre springboard.

Germany dominated this event. In the first round, the top score was posted by Kurt Behrens, while in the semi-finals he was second to the United States' George Gaidzik. The winner in the finals, however, was the 18-year-old Albert Zürner, who narrowly defeated Behrens and whose main claim to fame was having been Champion of Hamburg (Germany) for the past four years. Tieing for third with Gaidzik was Gottlob Walz, who was the heavy favorite. Walz had won the platform competition at the 1906 Olympic Games, was an 11-time German champion, and had won the European championship three times, first in 1903.