Keeney's glorious springboard to Olympic silver medal

Maddison Keeney has overcome the nerves that used to sabotage her diving career as she became the first Australian diver ever to win an individual Olympic 3m springboard medal - a glorious silver - in Paris.

The 28-year-old from Perth could hardly credit her best day in the sport as she even received her biggest medal yet on the podium from one her heroes, Oscar-winning actress and IOC member Michelle Yeoh.

"I love you!" Keeney told the Hollywood star, admitting later: "I probably embarrassed myself...."

But Yeoh must have been enraptured with the Aussie too.

Winner of a springboard synchro bronze in 2016, she had delivered her best ever performance under the utmost pressure on Friday, beaten only by another of the seemingly invincible Chinese divers, Chen Yiwen.

Having enjoyed a decade-long career with considerable success, especially with synchro partner Anabelle Smith, she scored 343.10 from her five-dive program as Chen proved a runaway winner with 376.00.

But the real mark of Keeney's quality was beating the other Chinese diver Chang Yani (318.75), who made a mess of her first dive, into bronze.

Needing to nail her final, most fiendish dive - a forward two-and-a-half somersaults with two twists - Keeney did just that, producing barely a splash on entry.

It scored her 78.20pts, not just her highest of the competition but the best by any of the 12 finalists in the last round, leaving her proud and close to tears.

"It's everything. Coming from kind of the bottom of the barrel around 2020, 2021, missing out on the Tokyo Games (through injury). But it's made me a better person, a better athlete, and I've re-fallen in love with the sport," she beamed.

It was Brisbane-based Keeney's 16th medal in world, Olympic and Commonwealth championships - but this was the best.

"Feels pretty damn good!" laughed the woman who is a rarity among top Olympic athletes as she holds down a day job as an IT specialist for a mining firm.

And in her finest hour, she couldn't help but reflect on tougher times when nerves would be her tormentor.

"I was very nervous today," she revealed. "But I've been working really close with my psych for the last 10 years.

"I used to have a lot of trouble with my nerves, and was on all sides of results, from falling off the board, to a lot of fourth places.

"Many times my legs have buckled from under me, but going through all those experiences, falling off the board, it's kind of made me who I am today.

"I feel like I've been forged in fire."

So when it came to the final dive, she felt "unshakeable" and didn't look at the scoreboard because she's an "overthinker".

"How do you deal with a last dive with a medal on the line? You're physically shaking, your heart's pounding, you're on the board and it's a different beast.

"But it's just like ... it's living! It's like, this is absolutely living! This is what you live for! Exhilarating is a great word for it."

Going for a high-tariff difficult dive is the only way, she feels, to beat the Chinese and it brought Australia's first medal of the diving program in Paris after Keeney and Smith had come close, with their fifth-place finish in the springboard synchro.

It was the seventh Chinese triumph out of seven in the Paris diving, making them overwhelming favourites to complete an eight-event sweep in the men's 10m platform event on Saturday.

Australia's 2023 world champion Cassiel Rousseau has the unenviable task of trying to prevent it after also qualifying for the semis.

"In the individual events, you're just fighting for a bronze medal, really," smiled the silver medallist. "I lucked out and got a silver!"

"Guess it's up to the boys now to see if they can wrangle anything."