Canada's Caeli McKay competes in the women's 10m platform diving semifinal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 5, in Saint-Denis, France.Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press
After taking a few days to digest her fourth-place finish with Kate Miller in the synchronized 10-metre platform diving at the Paris Olympics, Caeli McKay returned to the Olympic Aquatic Centre on Monday and qualified for the individual final.
McKay, of Calgary, finished seventh out of 18 in the semifinal after scoring a total of 308.85 over five dives.
“The job’s done for today. The job’s not done for the whole event. I’m really happy I made the finals. It was a very up-and-down day,” said McKay, assessing her performance. “I had some good stuff. I had some not-so-great stuff. Overall, I was relatively consistent, which I was really happy with. I have a lot of stuff I can improve on, so I’m quite relieved with that.”
China’s Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi topped the scoreboard, with 421.05 and 403.05 respectively, with Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix coming in third with 367.00.
China won seven of eight diving gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics and aims for a sweep in Paris, where they’re currently 4-for-4.
Heading into the finals, the 25-year-old McKay frames the competition as China versus everyone else, with everyone else chasing bronze.
“I think it’s one of the only events in diving right now that is really not sanely possible to say we would win a silver or gold. The Chinese team is just dominating. These girls are amazing. They’re very, very consistent and they don’t miss,” she said.
“It is a huge fight for a bronze medal and it’s anyone’s. That excites me. It keeps me hungry. That makes this event one of the most exciting ones in the diving field.”
Montreal’s Sarah Jodoin di Maria, representing Italy, also qualified for the final. She finished 10th in the semi-final with 294.85 points.
The top 12 advanced to Tuesday’s final.
The scores from the semifinal do not carry over but determine the diving order, which will be the reverse of the semifinal ranking.
McKay’s approach Monday was very different from last Wednesday when she and Miller were fighting tears, trying to console each other after finishing just over five points shy of the podium.
McKay quickly moved on from the disappointment.
“I let myself feel the emotions on the day and then tried to move past it. I had a day off and regrouped,” she said. " I accepted what I needed to accept. I moved on with my new role and focused on my individual and I’m here now. I’ll deal with more of the emotions after the Olympics are over.”
Ottawa’s Miller, 19, did not advance to the semifinal after finishing 20th in the preliminary round.
Canada already has one diving medal in Paris, with Saskatoon’s Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que., taking bronze in men’s 10m synchro.
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