Canadian diver Caeli McKay wins bronze in women's 10m platform at world aquatics
CBC Sports | Posted: July 19, 2023 10:33 AM | Last Updated: July 19, 2023
Calgary native had secured spot for Canada at Paris 2024 on Tuesday
A day after clinching an Olympic spot for Canada at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Caeli McKay won something just for herself.
The Calgary diver scored a bronze medal in the women's 10-metre platform final on Wednesday in Fukuoka, Japan.
"It's incredible. I don't even know what to say right now," she told CBC Sports' Devin Heroux poolside. "It's a whole flood of emotions."
The bronze marks McKay's first-ever world-championship medal.
China took the top two steps on the podium, with Chen Yuxi taking gold (457.85), and Quan Hongchen nabbing silver (445.60), ahead of McKay (340.25)
After placing fifth in Tuesday's semifinals, McKay started strong on Wednesday, scoring 76.50 on her first dive.
McKay faltered on her fourth dive with a 44.55, but made up for it in her fifth and final attempt with a 76.80 — her best score of the final — to beat fourth-place Gabriela Agundez Garcia of Mexico by 14.90.
"I knew I was up against some excellent competitors, so I had no choice but to give it my all," she added in a press release. "Even though I had had some trouble with my fourth dive, which was my hardest of the day, I just focused on doing well on my final dive."
WATCH | Canada's McKay captures diving bronze:
The third-place finish comes one day after McKay qualified for the Paris 2024 Games.
Earlier in the world championships, the 24-year-old from Calgary finished eighth in the 10-metre women's synchronized dive alongside partner Kate Miller of Ottawa.
McKay underwent surgery on her left ankle in October last year.
"I've worked really hard over the past two years to get to the top in my sport," she said. "My ankle injury was a really difficult time. Once I was on the podium, I had trouble holding back my tears."
The world championships continue on Thursday with Canadian divers Pamela Ware and Mia Vallée competing in the women's three-metre springboard qualifiers.
Canada's Lamothe finishes 4th in artistic swimming
Meanwhile, Canadian artistic swimmer Audrey Lamothe finished just off the podium of the women's solo free.
The 18-year-old from Montreal finished in fourth place with a score of 207.4480.
Japan's Yukiko Inui took gold with a total score of 254.6062, while Austria's Vasiliki Alexandri (229.3251) and Great Britain's Kate Shortman (219.9542) took silver and bronze, respectively.
"I'm very satisfied with my performance", Lamothe said in a release. "My goal for today was to execute a routine without any deductions, so I could maintain the full degree of difficulty I had planned for this routine, so of course I'm very pleased that I was able to achieve this."
WATCH | Full coverage of the artistic swimming women's solo free final: