Canadian Meaghan Benfeito soars into diving 10m platform semifinal
Myles Dichter | CBC Sports | Posted: August 4, 2021 8:37 AM | Last Updated: August 4, 2021
Olympic veteran won bronze in event at Rio 2016; Canada's Celina Toth eliminated
Canada's Meaghan Benfeito advanced to the semifinals of the women's 10-metre platform diving event at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
Benfeito, who won bronze in this event at the 2016 Rio Games, posted the fifth-best qualifying score of the day with a total of 331.85 points on her five dives.
Competing in her fourth Olympics, the 32-year-old also won bronze in the synchronized 10m platform event in 2012 and 2016.
She narrowly missed out on a medal with partner Caeli McKay in the synchronized event earlier at these Olympics, falling just 0.54 points shy of the podium.
In that instance, a disastrous fourth dive sealed the duo's fate.
"I'm in shock. Obviously disappointed. Everyone would be disappointed if they missed a medal by 0.54," said Benfeito, of Laval, Que., following the competition.
WATCH | Benfeito, McKay just miss podium:
Canadian Olympic rookie Celina Toth dealt with a devastating dive of her own on Wednesday.
Toth, 29, scored just 28 points on her first dive of preliminaries, digging too big a hole from which to climb. She finished 23rd with 261.40 points. The top 18 divers advanced to the semifinals.
The Toronto native won Canadian trials to qualify for these Olympics.
WATCH | Benfeito advances to semifinals:
China's Chen Yuxi posted the best score of the day with 390.70 points.
Semifinals are scheduled to be run Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, with the final just hours later at 2 a.m. ET.
WATCH | Benfeito's journey to Tokyo: