Diver Meaghan Benfeito secures spot in 2016 Olympics
Canadians' performance at FINA World Championships was deciding factor
Montreal's Meaghan Benfeito advanced to the women's 10-metre individual diving final at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia on Wednesday to lock up one berth for Canada in the 2016 Olympics.
Benfeito also grabbed the 12th and last spot for Thursday's final. The top-12 from this competition earn quota spots for their country towards next summer's Games in Rio.
That was probably the hardest day but happy that i pulled through & made the finals.. Olympic spot is opened! Bring on the finals 💪🏼
—@MegBenfeitoRoseline Filion of Laval, Que., did not advance after finishing 13th.
However, Benfeito and Filion also earned Canada an Olympic berth with their silver-medal performance in the 10-m synchro event on Monday.
There are two Olympic berths available per country in the individual event. Canadian divers will have another opportunity to land Olympic berth's they don't earn here at next year's FINA World Cup.
''It was my worst performance of the year,'' said Filion, eighth at the last world championships in 2013. ''I'm extremely disappointed.''
China's Qian Ren and Yajie Si stand first and second, respectively after today's semis. Kuk Hyang Kim of North Korea is third.
The men's three-metre gets underway on Thursday with preliminaries and semis. The Canadian entries are Philippe Gagné of Montreal and François Imbeau-Dulac of St-Lazare, Que.
With files from Louis Daignault