Australian diving star Melissa Wu finishes last in world championship event

It was only three years ago Melissa Wu won an Olympic bronze medal, but her latest result is a setback ahead of the Paris Games.

Olympic ambitions for one-time diving golden girl Melissa Wu have hit a significant stumbling block after she finished 12th of 12 divers in the final of her pet event at the World Aquatic Championships.

Two years after winning Commonwealth Games gold, veteran Wu, 31, had a bad day in Doha, her final score more than 104 points down on her Tokyo Olympics score in the 10m platform event.

Wu, who won a bronze medal in Tokyo in 2021 in the 10m platform, had her first dive in the final adjudged the worst of all 12 finalists, and she never recovered.

Melissa Wu had a bad day in Doha. Picture: Manan Vatsyayana / AFP

Having been comfortably the oldest diver to qualify for Monday’s final in Qatar, Wu has suffered fitness struggles since her Japanese success story, suffering a well-publicised back injury during filming for the reality quasi-military training TV show, SAS Australia.

She has suffered back injuries her entire career and said she “couldn’t touch my toes” after the 2021 injury before returning to claim gold in the 10m synchro platform at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

But she was no match in Doha for two of China’s own teenage stars who now head to Paris as favourites, with questions now over the Aussie veteran’s future. Wu finished

69.15 points adrift of the 16-year-old Chinese winner, Hongchan Quan.

Originally published as Australian diving star Melissa Wu finishes last in world championship event