BRILLIANT WU TAKES BRONZE AT DIVING WORLD CUP

Australia’s Melissa Wu has stamped herself as a genuine medal contender at this year’s Rio Olympics, after winning bronze in the platform final at the diving World Cup in Rio this morning.

Wu finished behind Chinese pair Qian Ren and Yajie Si in an Olympic quality field, climbing from fifth after her second dive to secure the bronze.

Qian Ren dominated the final, scoring perfect tens with her final dive to put her an incredible forty points ahead of her Chinese teammate, with Wu a further 30 points back in third.

23-year-old Wu is aiming to qualify for her third Olympic Games this year, ten years after debuting as a 14-year-old for Australia at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and eight years after winning an Olympic silver medal with Briony Cole in the women’s platform synchro at Beijing.

Speaking with Wu she  has made a major breakthrough after winning her platform bronze.

“I know I’m capable of doing my dives really well, it was always about putting it together under pressure,” Wu said.

“I’m just happy that I dived well, especially after having some disappointing rounds in the prelim and semis. It was pretty nerve-wracking knowing it was the Olympic venue.

“I was happy to get a medal, but mostly I was just happy that I dived well. I felt better going in than I did in the earlier rounds.”

Like Keeney and the synchro pair of Mills and Qin, Wu can now be considered a genuine medal prospect if, of course, she qualifies for the Olympic team at the Australian trials.

“Even looking at the final, there’s still a lot of things I know I can improve on,” Wu said.

“So even though I’m happy with how I went, I know I can improve even more.

“To be able to finish strong in this pool, before hopefully coming back for the Olympics,