Canadian diver Rylan Wiens earns 2nd Olympic spot this week at aquatics worlds
CBC
Following a brief illness, Rylan Wiens was beaming on the pool deck after clinching his second spot for the Paris Olympics this summer.
The 22-year-old diver from Pike Lake, Sask., scored 75.20 in the sixth and final round of the men's 10-metre platform event on Saturday, surpassing the 480 points needed for Olympic qualification by 9.2.
"I went out there and just gave it my all, had a great time," Wiens, who placed fifth in the field of 12, told Diving Canada. "I'm exhausted.
"I think this is the first time in my life I was speechless after [a competition]. The whole week I had lots of expectations … lot of goals and minus a medal I achieved everything I wanted.
"I got sick during the week, didn't train for a couple of days, came back, couldn't do a handstand for a while, but I knew what I had to do. I'm just so happy and proud."
Wiens, who was ninth in 10m platform at 2022 worlds, missed last year's competition in Fukuoka, Japan with a back injury.
Yang Hao of China won Saturday for a sixth career gold at worlds. He scored 564.05 to beat fellow countryman Cao Yuan (553.20) and Ukraine's Oleksii Sereda (528.65).
Wiens had a breakout performance at the 2021 World Cup in Japan where he won individual bronze in the 10m platform before a 19th-place effort later that year in his Tokyo Olympic debut.
Wiens, who earlier this week was named 2023 male athlete of the year at the Saskatchewan Sport Awards, missed out on a bronze medal at the Pan Am Games last October in Santiago, Chile.
Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que., was ninth in Saturday's competition (452.25) but had previously clinched an Olympic berth.
On Thursday, Wiens and Zsombor-Murray secured an Olympic spot in men's synchronized 10m platform, placing fifth.
WATCH | Full coverage of men's 10-metre platform final from Doha:
Elsewhere, Canada is one step closer to Olympic qualification in women's water polo.
The 15-member team will face Spain at 9:30 a.m. ET in Monday's quarterfinals after a 14-12 victory over New Zealand in a crossover match on Saturday at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Hockey Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee will name the Olympic women’s hockey team on Friday afternoon, less than a month before the Canadians open the tournament against Finland on Feb. 5.
In 2018, at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Pyeongchang, legendary ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir strapped on their skates for the final time at the Olympics.
Shekai Mills-Knight, a freshman running back for Ole Miss, will earn some attention Thursday night when his Rebels take on the Miami Hurricanes in an NCAA semifinal football game in Glendale, Ariz., but he first made news a decade ago as a grade-schooler deemed too big for the local little league.
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