After narrowly missing semifinals at 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Sask. diver looks ahead to 2024

A fraction of a point kept diver Rylan Wiens from making the semifinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — but the athlete from Pike Lake, Sask., says he isn't giving up.

The 19-year-old diver with the Canadian national team, who trains in Saskatoon, placed 19th in the first round of dives in the men's 10-metre platform event last Friday, missing out on 18th place — and a spot in the semifinal — by 0.1 points. 

"The second dive was a little bit of a bomb.… I didn't dive like I knew how to dive," Wiens told Saskatoon Morning.  

"There was some good in it, but also there was a little bit of … [a] disappointing finish."

Wiens was also dealing with wrist inflammation during the competition. He worked with a physiotherapist and had it taped as a preventative measure to make sure it didn't get worse.  

While he didn't finish where he wanted in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — which were delayed by a year and wrapped up this past Sunday — Wiens said he was impressed with the Olympic experience, including being around the Olympic Village.

While there wasn't a lot of interaction with athletes from other countries, he said it was impressive to see other athletes in action.

"Just seeing everyone around there, seeing all the other athletes that I have seen on the TV in the past and watched and kind of admired, is pretty cool — to be there and be a part of the whole thing," Wiens said. 

He said it was also fun to be with the Canadian diving team.

He's now back on Canadian soil, visiting British Columbia with his family.

"They're quite proud of me no matter what I did at the competition. But they're just happy to have me home because I was gone for pretty much a month and a half, almost two months from when I last saw them."

Wiens plans on a holiday, taking a month off before school starts, and will return to the diving board this fall.

He also intends to start synchronized diving with one of his teammates from Montreal and says he'll push hard to train and learn before the 2024 Paris Olympics.

His goals, he said, include trying to "just bring myself to be more confident [in] my diving and knowing that I … deserve to be there and can do it to be medal potential," Wiens said.

"The goal is a medal. So we'll see where that takes me."