Commonwealth Games 2022: Melissa Wu and Charli Petrov win women's 10m platform title
The Australian pair won all five rounds for gold while English break out star Andrea Spendolini Sirieix teamed up with Eden Cheng to seal a dramatic silver medal at Birmingham 2022.
Diving
Melissa Wu and Charli Petrov put on a near-perfect show to win the women's 10m synchronised diving at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Saturday (6 August).
The Australian duo are at opposite ends of their careers, with Wu competing in her Australian-record fifth Commonwealth Games, while Petrov is just 14 years of age.
But they were in perfect harmony at Birmingham's Sandwell Aquatics Centre, winning all five rounds to take the title with a score of 306.00
A dramatic four-way battle for silver was claimed by 17-year-old Andrea Spendolini Sirieix, who won the individual 10m platform title on Thursday, and her partner Eden Cheng.
After a slow start, the English duo improved with each dive and a fantastic 76.80 on the final jump of the competition saw them leapfrog compatriots Robyn Birch and Emily Martin with a total of 298.86.
But Birch and Martin will be more than satisfied with their score of 287.88 for bronze, having also finished on a superb final dive.
The Australians' victory [and Wu's third] at the Commonwealth Games is made even more impressive by the fact that Wu seriously injured her back while filming a TV show in Australia in February 2022. At one stage it looked like she was headed for an early retirement from the sport.
“This year has been a really big struggle for me with my body and injury. I literally couldn’t touch my toes, I couldn’t even do daily activities and daily living. So to be able to push through and dive the 10m today means so much to me," Wu said after.
“I couldn’t even imagine diving off the 10m when I was in the depths of being really injured.
“I want to be able to help the next generation as much as I can. For me it means so much. I can’t wait to see where Charli goes from here. Only up from here.”
Petrov was understandably nervous to compete on such a big stage at such a young age.
“It’s the most amazing thing ever. I reckon the past 24 hours have been full of either tears or anxieties, so going out there and coming home with a gold medal is just crazy," she said after.
“Having this gold medal around my neck, I don’t think anything can top this.”
Two-time Olympic medallist Wu starred in recent Olympics.com series 'Splash In', where she reveals how diving helped her overcome depression, anxiety, and lack of self-belief. You can watch that below now.
Pandelela Pamg and Nur Dhabitah will be disappointed with their fourth-place finish.
The Malaysians sat in second for the first half of the event, until a major mistake in the fourth round saw Dhabitah land almost flat on her back, effectively ruling them out of a medal despite another strong final effort.
How to watch 2022 Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games will be broadcast live in many parts of the world.
UK: BBC TV, BBC iPlayer and BBC website.
Canada: CBC Sports, CBC Sports app
Australia: Channel 7, 7Plus
New Zealand: Sky, TVNZ
India: Sony LIV
Singapore: Mediacorp's free-to-air Channel 5, meWATCH, and YouTube.
Malaysia: RTM
Further TV broadcast and digital live streaming details can be found on the Commonwealth Games website here.