Commonwealth Games 2022: Cassiel Rousseau wins incredible 10m platform diving gold
Australia’s Cassiel Rousseau has won a gold medal in diving at the Commonwealth Games after a sensational performance off the high tower before Maddison Keeney dominated the 3m springboard.
Taking his lead from Olympic swimming champion Kaylee McKeown, who dropped the F-bomb after winning in Tokyo, there was only ever going to be one way Australia’s Cassiel Rousseau could describe his incredible gold medal winning dive at the Commonwealth Games.
“That was f … ing insane,” he shrieked. “What the f... was that? Holy shit.”
Rousseau wasn’t the only one blown away by his astonishing last dive that won him the gold medal in the men’s 10-metre platform final in Birmingham.
One judge gave him a rare perfect score – 10 out of 10 – while the rest gave him the highest score for any dive in the competition when he nailed a four and half forward somersault, one of the trickiest and most dangerous dives off the high tower.
But the 21-year-old pulled off when he needed to to win the gold ahead of Canadian Rylan Wiens, who had also impressed the judges with his last dive, leaving Rousseau needing someone extraordinary to win the competition.
“There was a lot of pressure on that last dive and I think I handled it pretty well,” said Rousseau.
“I said to myself, ‘if I land on my stomach or if I do actually land on my head, I’m not going to care at all’. I’m going to give it my all and see what I actually have in store. Before I was about to run, there was absolutely nothing in my head and I just went for it.
“I did know straight away. As soon as I hit the water, I knew that I was going to get some bloody high marks.”
Rousseau comes from sporting royalty. His grandfather Michel Rousseau won a gold medal in cycling for France at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Rousseau’s goal is to honour his grandfather’s memory by winning a medal for Australia in Paris in 2024.
Starting out as a gymnast, he had the natural skills to be a great diver but there was a big problem he had to overcome first.
“I had a big fear of heights,” he said. “But Mum just got me out of bed for a trial day kicking and screaming and ever since that day, I just fell in love with the sport.
“It’s just pure enjoyment now. I’m not afraid at all over the height.”
Rousseau added the individual gold to the bronze medal he won with Domonic Bedggood in the 10m synchronised final. Bedggood won the individual gold at the Gold Coast four years ago.
Fourth after the first of his six dives in the final, Rousseau took a narrow lead at the halfway mark with a reverse three and a half somersault.
He was just 2.1 points in front heading into the last round but entered the water without hardly making a splash to finish on 501.30 points, 8.5 clear of Wiens.
England’s Matthew Lee won the bronze while Australia’s Sam Fricker finished 10th after getting a late call up to the final after England’s Matthew Dixon withdrew.
YEARS OF PAIN TURN TO GOLD FOR KEENEY
Julian Linden
Maddison Keeney won her second gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, cementing her place as one of Australia’s best divers after years battling injuries and rotten luck
Just 24 hours after teaming up with Belle Smith to win the synchronised title, Keeney collected another gold by winning the individual 3 metre springboard event in brilliant fashion.
Trailing Malaysia’s Nur Dhabitah after the first three dives, Keeney snatched the outright lead with a dazzling three and half forward somersault that wowed the judges and the crowd at the Sandwell Aquatic Centre.
Then she held her nerve on her fifth and final dive – a two and a half forward flip with a twist – to finish on 348.95 points and win another gold she thought may never come again after being struck down by ailing health over the past few years.
“I’ve just been so injured and out of competition and out of the pool and out of competition for a couple of years and then coming into this year,” she said.
“I’m still injured, but I thought I’d just give you a crack and see what I got.
“It was just a great event to be a part of. Everyone was diving well and it was so down to the wire. When people are diving well, it really brings everyone else up. And I think it really makes a difference.”
Dhabitah, who also finished runner up in the synchronised event, took the silver while the bronze went to Canada’s Mia Vallee.
Australia’s Georgia Sheehan finished seventh while her teammate Brittany O’Brien came 10th.
Keeney, 26, has long been one of Australia’s premier divers, winning her first Commonwealth Games medal eight years ago.
She also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and has four world championship medals – including an individual gold in 2017 – but has been plagued by injuries and misfortune.
She once scored zero on a dive at the world championships when she slipped off the board and tumbled into the water but has never lost faith in her ability even when injuries kept halting her progress.
“I’ve just been through a lot,” she said.
“I haven’t been able to train as much as I’d like to, and I haven’t been able to dive as well as I have been in the past.
“I was in a really good spot in 2019 in terms of improving and just being at the top of my game and then to kind of lose then have to crawl back out of the hole that I was in.
“It’s been really hard work behind the scenes so it just feels good to get across the line.”
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