Canadian diver Caeli McKay captured bronze on Thursday for Canada’s 58th medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The 23-year-old from Calgary reached the podium in the women’s 10-metre platform final after amassing 317.50 points on five dives at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham, England.
“I’m very happy. It was definitely a bit of a shaky event, not the best one I’ve ever put down, but I’m happy to come home with a medal,” she said.
England’s Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix claimed gold on the final dive of the event, finishing with 357.50 points. Compatriot Lois Mae Toulson took silver (337.30).
Fellow Canadian Olympian Celina Toth of Victoria, B.C., concluded sixth with 298.40 points.
McKay found herself in fourth place after earning 64.50 points on her opening dive, and she dropped down to seventh with just 56.00 points on her second. But she rebounded with a strong third dive — inward 3 ½ somersaults — that earned 75.20 points, vaulting her into second place with 195.70 entering the penultimate round.
“That’s one that I can count on when I’m under pressure,” she said. “I got a little frustrated after my second dive and kind of told myself I needed to wake up and get into the game. So that’s usually my comeback dive.”
Toth earned 72.00 points with the same dive in the fourth round, bumping her up from seventh to fourth entering the final round. McKay dropped to bronze position after her fourth dive, but she finished strong on her final dive to earn 62.40 points and momentarily move into first place.
Spendolini-Sirieix ultimately took top spot with a remarkable final dive that earned 86.40 points.
McKay finished fourth in the preliminary round with 302.70 points, while Toth booked her spot in the final by finishing fifth with 297.30 points.
McKay returned from a lengthy injury recovery in June at the world championships in Budapest, where she managed to finish fifth in the same event.
She badly tore ligaments in her left ankle just a few weeks out from the Tokyo Olympics last summer, but she persevered and went on to finish fourth in the 10m synchronized platform event alongside now-retired Meaghan Benfeito.
Canada has won 16 gold, 20 silver and 22 bronze through seven days of competition at the Commonwealth Games.
