Injured Tourky dipped in Gold

The combination of Australians and water has proved a potent one at these games and our divers continued the medal march on its merry way.

Short of a dead heat, the women's 10 metre platform final could not have been any closer. An ankle injury-hampered Loudy Tourky edged out Aussie team mate Chantelle Newbery by just four points to win gold as Australia claimed a one-two finish ahead of Canadian Emilie Heymans.

The duo won the synchronised platform final together on Wednesday and proved just how close they are in skill level with a nail biting finish at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

It was the final step to top spot for Tourky who had to settle for bronze in Athens and silver at the world championships in Montreal last year.

After complaining of ankle soreness on Thursday morning, Tourky said the rush of the competition overtook pain in the final.

“Once you are in competition, you don't feel any pain, there's too much adrenalin going on,” an excited Tourky said.

On an emotional night at the pool, Newbery could not contain her tears of joy and relief on the dais after securing the silver medal.

Tourky finished with an overall tally of 737.75 points, just ahead of Newbery with 733.55 and Heymans on 733.50.

Both Newbery and Tourky missed their opening dives of the night which gave Heymans a chance to catch them and, as Tourky said, “Emilie was diving exceptionally well.”

Teenage star Melissa Wu finished fifth but had no reason to be ashamed in a field boasting world class opposition.

Wu struggled in the morning session and missed one dive where she landed close to flat on her back.

But, in the fashion she has displayed already, Wu stunned crowds in the evening session with a perfect 10 dive- the first and only of the competition. The youngest member of the Games team tore through the surface without a ripple and sent the crowd into raptures.

While women have generally outclassed men in aquatics, Australia's Robert Newbery was determined to fly the flag for the boys as Australia finished with silver and bronze in the men's 3 metre springboard final.

Newbery finished with a total of 906.30 to edge out compatriot Steven Barnett who won bronze.

Both Australians were comprehensively beaten by Canadian Alexandre Despatie who was in scintillating form throughout the meet.

Newbery was gracious in his praise of the gold medallist after the final. “He's a hell of competitor and a hell of a guy,” he said of Despatie.

The Australian diving team now boasts eight medals including three gold which equals our best performance since Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

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