After a week of sensational diving at the now iconic Tokyo Aquatic Centre, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has come to a close.

In what has been a challenging period for athletes across the globe, Australian divers stepped up to the plate putting forward a spectacular performance rooted in the hundreds of hours of hard work and unwavering dedication.

The competition marked the first international event for Australian divers in well over a year.

Australian divers contested each of the four individual events offered at the Olympic Games with seven athletes forming the green and gold team.

The performances were highlighted by three top 12 performances, two top 8 placings, and a podium finish.

With the exceptional performance of Melissa Wu in the Women’s 10m Platform, The Australian diving team has now returned from every Olympic Games in the past two decades with a medal in hand.

With Melissa’s performance in Tokyo, she has now competed in the event at four consecutive Olympic Games, a feat no other Australian platform diver has done before.

Following Tokyo, Melissa now holds four of the seven highest scoring Olympic final lists by an Australian in the Women’s Platform event. Further, Melissa becomes just the third Australian diver, joining Loudy Wiggins and Robert Newbery, to medal at two separate Olympic Games.

Cassiel Rousseau in his first Olympic Games put forward an impressive performance in the Men’s 10m Platform to notch an eighth-place finish. Only two Australian divers have placed better in the event in Olympic history, Matthew Mitcham and Mathew Helm, both of whom are Olympic medallists in the event.

Cassiel’s performance also marks the best placing by an Australian in the event since Beijing 2008 which included Matthew Mitcham’s gold medal winning effort.

Esther Qin in her second Olympic Games finished with a 12^th place performance in the Women’s 3m Springboard. With Esther’s result, Australia has now had a diver in every Women’s 3m Springboard final since Sydney 2000.

In her third Olympic Games, Anabelle Smith competed for the first time as an individual in the Women’s 3m Springboard. The Victorian made her way into the semi-final ultimately finishing in 14^th place.

On Olympic debut, Shixin Li, Sam Fricker, and Nikita Hains finished 27^th, 28^th, and 21^st respectively in their respective events.

Australia’s next major international competition will be the 19^th FINA World Championships to be held in Fukuoka, Japan May 13-29, 2022.