Mishap denies WA diver Games gold
A shaky leg on the springboard has cost WA’s Maddison Keeney a gold medal at Glasgow 2014.
Keeney was in first place after three dives in the 1m competition and with two high degree of difficulty attempts to come she was well placed to win her first major international series.
However, the 18-year-old baulked in her approach to a forward three-and-a-half tuck, with a rating of 3.0, was penalised with a low score and eventually had to finish with a silver medal.
Canadian Jennifer Abel won the event with 287.25 points, Keeney scored 281.95 points while fellow Australian Esther Qin was third on 278.65 points.
Another positive result for the green and gold army at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh was the fourth placing for recently turned 15-year-old Georgia Sheehan. She missed the bronze medal by 0.05 points in her first major open series.
Keeney had a mixed start but took the No.1 placing with an inward two-and-a-half somersault with tuck that scored 69.75 points, including an 8.5 from one judge. She held a 5.2-point advantage before her mishap.
“It is always good to come away with a medal but I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t end up with gold,” said Keeney, who was clearly upset after her final dive. “That is what I was aiming for.
“My legs buckled because I was nervous and then I had to refocus after that and try to do it. If I hadn’t baulked things might have been different.
“What’s done is done and I just have to go back and focus on my (3m springboard) competition tomorrow.”
Keeney, who was a bronze medallist in the 3m synchronised event with Anabelle Smith on Wednesday, had qualified third for the final.
The student at the Australian Institute of Sport diving program in Brisbane has produced sores in excess of 300 point for her routines and was confident she could replicate the form at the Commonwealth Games.
“I have been working on my list for a while now and I know I have got the potential to do these dives much better than I have,” Keeney said.
“They have been pretty good in training and I came in here confident but it just didn’t happen in the end.
“For my Commonwealth Games coming away with a silver and a bronze I can’t complain about that but I just have to look at it as a learning curve and get better for next time.”
