Diving in front of a packed Aquatics venue in Paris, Kurtis proudly represented the green and gold on his Games debut after a remarkable journey back to the sport following a brief retirement.
With skilful dives to start the final the formed NCAA US college champion shook off his nerves and settled into more complex dives.
At the halfway mark, Kurtis was sitting in eighth place. With fierce competition, he dug deep to deliver a back 3½ somersaults in tuck position (207C), scoring him 68.40. This dive, with a degree of difficulty of 3.6, was the second highest in his program.
Kurtis’s finals appearance signalled his successful return to the sport, following retirement after his collegiate career.
“It wasn't my greatest performance, but I can't complain,” he said.
“I was in an Olympic final on my Olympic debut. So, very happy.”
Squaring up against a stacked field of athletes with all three Tokyo 2020 medallists and 2024 World Championship medallists, including three-time world champion Zongyuan Wang from China, the competition was fierce.
Despite delivering solid dives, including a reverse 3½ somersaults tuck with a difficulty of 3.5, and a forward 4½ somersaults tuck with a difficulty of 3.8, Kurtis finished with a total score of 383.40, ending in 10th place.
“There are some really amazing divers out there. So it makes it tough to try and keep up,” said Kurtis, reflecting on the event.
“I think everybody in the field is capable of it. You just have to have the training to back it and then have the mental focus on the day to follow through with it.
“We all know that we're capable of doing it. It's just whether or not it comes together on the day.”
The 25-year-old is motivated to continue his diving career, resetting and focusing on the future.
“I'll keep working towards LA, that is my goal now,” he said.
“Having this experience, it's going to potentially program you better for another Olympic Games, but that's four yes down the track, and there's other big competitions in between that.
“I just need to take it six months, one year at a time, and then slowly build towards that again.”
Despite not achieving the result he wanted, Kurtis was proud to be a part of the history-making Olympic team.
“I didn't win a medal, but at least I can say I was on the most successful team,” he said.
Kurtis Mathews left nothing on the table in the final, but it was a stacked field, dominated by the Chinese pair of Siyi Xie and Zongyuan Wang.
Mathews finished his six dives with a total score of 383.40, but only got as high as seventh during the competition.
In the end, it was a contest between synchronized teammates Xie and Wang, with the former producing a massive total of 543.60.
Wang had the opportunity to snatch gold with his final dive, but despite scoring 102.60, he fell 13.40 short of Xie. Mexico's Osmar Olvera Ibarra rounded out the medals, claiming bronze with 500.40.
Fellow Australian Maddi Keeney will once again take to the pool deck and compete in the Women's 3m Springboard final on Saturday at 6 pm AEST.
Australian Olympic Committee - Sarah Dyce
