By Tom Decent
When Australian diver Alysha Koloi won her first world title in February, she was one of the last people in her event to know.
Koloi, a 22-year-old from Brisbane with a gymnastics background, had no expectations before her maiden world championships in Doha, less than six months before the Olympics in Paris.
Koloi has several superstitions. She does not like to know her ranking as a competition progresses and the pressure builds.
“I don’t watch any of the other divers or look at any scores,” Koloi said. “I had absolutely no idea in the final round where I was sitting or how anyone else was going.
Australian diver Alysha Koloi at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.Credit: Dan Peled
“I can’t change what anyone else does or what the judges do. So there’s no point in me watching it.”
During competition – and between dives – Koloi says she does not stop talking. It helps calm her nerves.
She’ll talk to anyone in earshot – be it her coach, competitors or even security guards.
Koloi felt she was diving well in Doha in the one-metre springboard final and thought she might win a medal.
“My name flashed up in big writing on the big screen. My teammates were screaming telling me I had won,” Koloi said. “It was just an overwhelming experience. I didn’t think it was real. It was very much a pinch me moment.”
Koloi didn’t become a household name after her victory, but it elevated her profile in a sport where Australian victories on the world stage are rare.
Alysha Koloi (centre) after winning gold at the 2024 world championships. Credit: Getty
With the Olympics on the horizon, Koloi is worth keeping an eye on. It has been 20 years since an Australian woman won a diving gold medal at the Games.
At Athens in 2004, Chantelle Newbery became Australia’s first diving gold medallist in 80 years when she won the 10-metre platform event.
Australia’s last diving gold medal went to Matthew Mitcham in Beijing in 2008, when he produced the highest scoring dive in Olympic history.
Koloi will be in rarefied air if she can achieve something similar in Paris, and partly has her sister to thank.
Alysha Koloi is aiming to make her first Australian Olympic team. Credit: Dan Peled
The Queenslander was a promising gymnast before a hip injury in 2015. Koloi’s younger sister, Sophie, asked if she wanted to try diving instead. The thought of landing head first did not appeal too much, but Alysha agreed to head to her sister’s diving practice.
“The elite coach snatched me up within the first week,” Koloi said. “Three months it took and then I was a diver.
“It definitely took a long time to start loving diving and the adrenaline rush really helps. I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie. The aerial awareness and flipping and counting your rotations is very transferable from gymnastics to diving.”
However, jumping off a 10-metre platform does not interest Koloi, who prefers the lower heights.
Alysha Koloi during a training session in Brisbane. Credit: Dan Peled
The one-metre competition Koloi won at the world championships is not an Olympic event and there were no Chinese competitors in Doha.
Provided Koloi seals a spot at the Paris Games – diving has its national championships next week in Adelaide, which serve as Olympic trials – she will compete on the three-metre platform.
Australia is expected to field a strong team in Paris, featuring Cassiel Rousseau, Maddison Keeney, Melissa Wu, Brittany O’Brien and Sam Fricker.
After a world title triumph, Koloi wants even more success on the biggest stage in diving.
Australian diver Cassiel Rousseau poses with his gold medal at the 2023 world championships. Credit: Getty
“It’s definitely a confidence boost and gives me a little taste of what my potential can be and what I can achieve,” Koloi said. “It’s also a bit of noise. I’ve got to keep my head down. It does create a little bit more pressure but it’s no more pressure that I would put on myself.
“There are things that I want to achieve outside the pool and achieving the Olympic dream is just the cherry on top.”
Like many Olympians, Koloi has work commitments as well as a six-day training schedule.
She is a part-time nanny and support worker, looking after people with mental and physical disabilities.
Will they tune into the Olympics to watch her?
“I think I’ve made enough of a connection with a few of my clients, I’d say they would watch,” Koloi said. “I don’t know how long they would watch for, but they would definitely turn it on and have it in the background.
“They have such a pure view of the world. It’s really nice to see and such a contrast to our tunnel vision in elite sport. It’s also nice to just go and play with Lego for a day.”
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