Shixin Li has come up short in his first Olympic Games, failing to qualify for the Men's 3m Springboard semi-final.

In his first Olympic Games Shixin Li, a father of three, struggled to find his form in the Men's 3m Springboard preliminary.

The 33-year-old migrated to Australia following a successful diving career in his birth country of China which included two World Championships titles in 2011 and 2013.

However, Li could not capture that former success at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre on Monday afternoon as he looked for a top 18 finish and a berth through to the semi-final.

With his first dive, Li settled comfortably into the middle of the field, shaking off the nerves in his first international competition in more than a year.

Unfortunately, that comfort was quickly dashed in the second round where Li performed an inward three-and-a-half.

The Australian had a strong take-off but with too much energy mistimed his come out, over rotating, and picking up scores ranging from three to five from the judging panel. That dive caused Li to slide from 12th to 24th position in the rankings, and in danger of missing out on a berth to the semi-final.

His third dive mirrored his second, too much energy, over rotating, fours from the judges, sliding to 27th in the field.

Although the Aussie tried to mount a comeback through his fourth, fifth and sixth dives, the effort was in vain. He would remain in 27th for the rest of the competition, missing the semi-final and ending his Olympic campaign without progressing.

Nevertheless, Li now walks away from Tokyo as an Olympian, achieving a goal that was set more than two decades ago.

"It was a dream come true, I've been preparing for this moment for a long, long, time," Li said.

"Today was not very good, a little bit disappointing, I can do better"

"It's a little bit cruel but that's the game."

Australian divers will be back in action on Wednesday, August 4, in the Women's 10m Platform preliminary, with Melissa Wu diving into her fourth Olympic Games and Nikita Hains on debut.

Courtesy Australian Olympic Committee