Montreal Diving World Cup | Canada runs out of medals at home

(Montreal) No diver from the Canadian team was able to add a medal to their collection at the end of the World Cup in Montreal this weekend. Only Caeli McKay came close to saving her country’s honor in the final event of the program, but Canada’s best medal hope came up short. Barely.

1.6 points. This is what made the difference between Briton Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and the Calgary native in the 10-metre tower event on Sunday afternoon.

The 24-year-old athlete was in the game until the very end, despite the pressure exerted by her rival. Throughout the event, McKay sat comfortably in provisional fourth place. Until Spendolini Sirieix missed his entry into the water on the penultimate jump. Immediately afterwards, the Canadian performed her best jump of the day.

With only one try to complete, the Briton pulled a rabbit out of her hat with a jump as spectacular as it was effective, at the most important moment of the day. His two and a half somersaults earned him 86.40 points. A difficult slope to climb for McKay, helpless while waiting for his turn on the stairs leading to the platform.

She responded well afterwards, ignoring the pressure, thanks to a jump of very high quality, which in another context, would undoubtedly have assured her of a podium, but in vain. 1.6 points behind her rival, at the foot of the podium, McKay was still able to address members of the media with her head held high and a smile on her face, given that this was her best individual result on the international scene.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling. As you know, fourth position is always a bit annoying. But I can’t blame myself. […] I am very happy at the moment. I was very surprised and relieved when I saw my name in second place after my jump. It’s frustrating when it’s so tight, but I’m proud of myself. »

The competition was extremely tough. This event was obviously the most exciting of the weekend. The Chinese at the top, and the British just behind, offered a quality of jumps that the fans gathered at the Olympic stadium enjoyed. Particularly because to the eye, the majority of spectators seemed to have come straight from the country of Yao Ming and Jackie Chan. Judges handed out scores of 9s and 9.5s like a salted peanut pitcher in the days when the stadium also served as the home of a baseball club.

Otherwise, finishing less than two points behind such a talented trio allows McKay to better digest her result: “Being so close to them, or at least to Andrea, gives me a little hope and that gives me clues on how I should work to improve myself in this Olympic year. I feel like I’m close to the goal. »

In the big leagues

Cédric Fofana has accumulated disappointments in the last major international meetings. A 29^e place at the Tokyo Olympics and a 34^e position at the most recent world championships have not diminished his desire to one day climb the three steps on which the best athletes in the world are acclaimed.

He did not succeed on Sunday in the individual three-meter event, but he leaves with his head held high given his eighth position. He had never collected 400 points on the international scene. And he had never qualified for an individual final on the World Cup circuit.

“It’s a bit of a new start,” said the 20-year-old athlete in the mixed zone after his six dives.

He admitted to being nervous going into the competition, given his recent history. “But I think I was more nervous before the competition, during practice. And once the competition started, I was nervous, but I calmed down, I needed to. »

He alternated between good jumps and bad ones. He was sometimes sublime and fair, like on his fifth jump. But sometimes disoriented and fleeing like on his third attempt. At the very least, he did what was necessary to be proud of himself and cross the fateful 400-point mark.

“It was a milestone to cross and I want to say that it was time for me to take it, because I know that I am capable of doing it. At Nationals, I do this almost all the time. »

Fofana was never really in the running for a medal. His rivals offered an absolutely fantastic level of diving, read here the Chinese Zongyuan Wang with his 549.50 points, but the Montrealer’s objective this weekend was only to get back in the saddle as adequately and naturally as possible . So it’s mission accomplished. “I’m really happy to have done this in front of my family, my friends, the crowd. It might just get better soon. »

Osmar Olvera Ibarra and Jack Laugher completed the podium.

A practice for the Games

At the end of their third jump from the 10-meter platform, the tandem of Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens were in a good position to possibly climb onto the podium. Until their fourth try.

They were nevertheless still in second place, but the gap with their pursuers melted like vanilla ice cream in the sun. When he entered the water, Wiens did not bring his legs sufficiently in a straight line. The judges clearly did not appreciate the splashes caused by this lack of precision, awarding the duo only 72.15 points, on the jump with the highest difficulty coefficient of their program.

Just before, the two Canadians had finished their three and a half rotations with finesse. They almost reached perfection with a score of 86.40.

Despite a nice glimmer of hope in the middle of the event, Zsombor-Murray and Wiens hardly improved their fortunes in the last few figures, therefore relegating them to fifth position.

“It was good mentally, it was more physically, I think,” admitted Zsombor-Murray. I was a little tired after the individual yesterday. Other than that, I did well, I managed my energy well for the competition. »

The Quebecer admitted feeling “a little disappointment” since they flirted with the podium for at least half of the competition.

Their goal established at the start of the day, however, had nothing to do with a possible podium or the possibility of ending the day with a medal around their neck: “It’s mainly practice for synchro at the Olympics. Just to be comfortable together and be able to manage energy and stress. »

Qualified for the Paris Olympic Games since the Aquatic Worlds in February, the duo firmly believes they are “capable of having a medal with this list [de sauts]. »

China, Mexico and Great Britain finished first, second and third respectively.

Near the podium

Aimee Wilson and Margo Erlam found out she would be competing in the synchronized three-meter event just a week ago. Even though they train at different clubs, Wilson in Calgary and Erlam in Saskatoon, the two athletes have been around each other for a long time.

However, their chemistry was devilishly useful to them in this context.

Even if at the start of the competition, the duo was slow to find their rhythm. After two jumps, the Canadians were last in the provisional ranking. However, their fourth jump was the spark needed to get back to the height of the race, in fifth position. Their last attempt, almost as well executed, was decisive in their rise. They finally took fourth place in the event, less than 12 points behind the Australians and the last place giving access to the podium.

“We didn’t even know. We don’t look at the board between our dives, Wilson admitted regarding their provisional ranking after two jumps.

Obviously, due to the preparation time, the pair did not expect to achieve such a good result. “Considering this, we are really very happy,” said Erlam.

The Chinese won gold, the Americans silver and the Australians bronze.