Maddison Keeney takes silver in 2024 Paris Olympic Games 3m springboard diving final

Ten years of intense training, a painful surgery and nasty mental demons. That’s what Maddison Keeney battled to claim silver in the women’s diving final and she couldn’t be prouder.

Maddison Keeney with Chinese divers Chen Yiwen and Chang Yani who won gold and bronze. Picture: AFP

The way she flipped, spun and twisted into the water looked effortless but Maddison Keeney’s silver medal performance was anything but.

It took 10 years of intense training, a painful surgery and lengthy battle to banish nasty mental demons to stand on that platform.

Keeney said it was those past experiences that gave her the power to become the first Australian to win an individual Olympic springboard event.

“There have been times when my legs have buckled from under me,” Keeney said.

“I just feel like those moments really made me, going through that, a lot of those experiences, like baulking or falling off the board - I’m forged in fire, I know deep within me that I’m pretty solid now.”

Maddison Keeneyshows off her silver medal. Picture: Getty Images

Her confidence showed before she even stepped foot on a board - her list incredibly tricky, her final dive one even the Chinese aren’t brave enough to attempt.

It’s a 2.5 somersaults, 2 twists piked - a difficulty rating of 3.4.

Keeney is no stranger to the dive - she had it on her list back at the Rio Olympics where she finished fifth.

“In order to beat the Chinese you really need to take risks,” Keeney said.

“The foundation I have at the moment has been really good and it’s part of who I am.”

So walking out on the platform for her final dive, knowing all she needed to do was land head first to get a medal - Keeney’s thoughts weren’t of past failures, what ifs or if she should have chosen the easier version of the dive like her Chinese rivals.

Maddison Keeney performed a lis of tricky dives to get her medal. Picture: Getty Images

“I was physically shaking, my heart’s pounding, it’s a different beast but I told myself ‘this is living’,” Keeney said.

“This is what I live for, it’s exhilarating.”

It worked - the judges loved Keeney’s final dive dishing out sevens and eights.

Her total of 78.20, the highest scoring dive of the event, locked her into second place behind Chinese diver Chen Yiwen and 24 points ahead of Chang Yani.

“I remember jumping off the board and thinking thank God I’m off the board, and then swimming straight back up,” Keeney said.

“It’s a hard dive and to be able to perform it under that pressure, especially in the last round with a medal on the line, I’m pretty proud I was able to do that.”

Getting to this point has been a long journey for Keeney. There has been success along the way, including a bronze in the synchronised event at Rio.

An underwater view shows Maddison Keeney competing in the women's 3m springboard diving final. Picture: AFP

But a horror shoulder injury and consequently missing the Tokyo Olympics left Keeney in a dark place.

A gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games proved to be the spark she needed to surge on to Paris.

Keeney came close to a medal last week - but a misstep from partner Anabelle Smith in the synchro ended the dream.

It was little surprise she had tears in her eyes as she was presented her silver medal.

“It’s everything,” Keeney said.

“Coming from the bottom of the barrel, missing out on Tokyo, falling back in love with the sport and just being able to come to this Olympics just deeply happy internally, knowing that no matter what happened I’m just so happy with where I am in my career.”

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Keeney said the silver medal was the cake, being the first Australian to win the event was the icing and being presented her medal by Malaysian actress and IOC member Michelle Yeoh was the cherry on top.

“I saw her in the tunnel before we marched out and I thought she looked familiar and then I saw her name on the scoreboard and it clicked,” Keeney said.

“It was so amazing. I embarrassed myself and told her I loved her”.

Being the true competitor she is Keeney knows her journey isn’t over yet.

The next mission is to dethrone the Chinese and get a spot on top of the podium.

“I’ve had a really long and successful career and I’m proud of myself but I know I can keep getting better. I’ve made a lot of progress in the last year so who knows what can happen in the next couple of years.”

Originally published as Maddison Keeney takes silver in 2024 Paris Olympic Games 3m springboard diving final