So close!

PARIS, France:

IF THAT was the final dive of Yona Knight-Wisdom’s career, it would be an agonising end.

Knight-Wisdom, close to making his first Olympic final, is still thankful for all he has learnt in his decade-long career and for being able to fly the Jamaican flag in the sport.

He finished 13th in the three-metre springboard semi-final yesterday with 412.40 points, missing out on automatic qualification to the final by the slimmest of margins.

Knight-Wisdom, for the first four rounds, was consistent with an average score of 72.125 putting him in the mix to make the top 12, but was marked down hard on his fifth attempt.

Accumulating 52.50 points on that fifth dive meant, despite racking up 71.40 on his final effort, he missed the final by 3.8 points.

It was a hard pill to swallow.

“It’s a big mix of emotions, for sure. Finishing 13th is the worst place to finish. But I am obviously proud of what I did, proud that I finished with a really strong dive. I didn’t know where I was, but I knew that I was in the mix. Shame about round five,” he said.

“But I improved my score, I improved my performance. In terms of what I was trying to do, I achieved that. It is just unfortunate that there were 12 better divers than me,” he added.

Knight-Wisdom was early in the diving order and, while those below him would know what they needed to do to get through to the final, Knight Wisdom said that going early actually benefited him.

“I tend to prefer going earlier, because I would just get my dives done. I can’t affect what people do on the board. So I just try to get my dives done as fast as possible,” he said.

With his 13th-place finish, Knight-Wisdom is the first reserve and would be included in this morning’s 8 a.m. final, should any of the top 12 withdraw from the competition.

While a similar situation happened at the Pan American Games last year, he has accepted the unlikelihood of that playing out again.

Instead, he has chosen to reflect on what he has achieved in his career, committing his future to Jamaica’s diving programme.

“I have had some unbelievable memories, figuring out what it takes to push yourself to the highest level. Hopefully, I inspired a lot of people to do the same. No matter your body type or wherever you come from, you can do anything you want as long as you put the work in,” Knight-Wisdom said.

“I am doing a camp for two weeks. I am hoping to find some kind of investment, sponsorship for someone to get involved. It is going to be a tough journey but I want to leave a legacy of diving in Jamaica.”

Daniel Wheeler