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.

Matthew Richardson also won silver in the track cycling sprint, his first individual Olympic medal, while champion Australian paddlers Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen  were unable to repeat their Olympic heroics in the men’s K2 event, winning bronze.

Perth 28-year-old Keeney 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.

Photo: Getty

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.”

Close finish for Richardson

Australian Matthew Richardson has won silver as Harrie Lavreysen again proved he is track cycling’s sprint king.

The Dutch great successfully defended his Olympic title in the match sprint, beating the Australian in their gold medal ride-off.

Lavreysen also has won the last five world titles in the event. The Dutch become the first country to win more than one gold medal at the Paris track after seven decided events.

“I haven’t been beaten a lot in the last three or four years and if I was beaten, it was by Matthew,” Lavreysen said.

“Seeing him in the final, it was hard. I expected it to be hard – we (finished) really close.

“He performed crazy-well … a lot of respect to him. He was the best opponent to have in the Olympic final.”

It is Richardson’s first individual Olympic medal after he won bronze earlier this week in the team sprint.

He was trying to become only the second Australia to win gold in the men’s sprint, after Ryan Bayley in 2004.

Richardson’s silver and the team sprint bronze are the first Australian Olympic medals in the men’s sprint events since Bayley won the sprint and keirin in Athens.

Richardson and Matt Glaetzer will ride on Saturday in the keirin opening rounds.

Lavreysen broke the world record for the flying 200m in qualifying – Richardson also went under the old mark to be second-fastest.

The Dutch great was also part of the combination that went under 41 seconds for the first time as they defended their team sprint Olympic title.

Richardson, like Lavreysen, had not put a foot wrong in the sprint event until the gold medal ride-off, when he hit a Dutch brick wall.

The Australian did not do much wrong and used his acceleration on the last bend as he had done to lethal effects in earlier rounds.

But Lavreysen was just that bit better.

“You’ve just seen the greatest sprinter, ever … in terms of pure pace and speed,” Australian assistant coach Scott Gardner said of Lavreysen.

“We knew everything had to go right tonight to get close to him, and it was close.”

Earlier on Friday the Australian beat Lavreysen’s compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland two heats to nil in their semi, shaking his fist in elation as he finished the second race.

Lavreysen similarly dispatched British opponent Jack Carlin, with no need for the decider.

Hoogland and Carlin had won one heat apiece in the bronze medal ride-off, forcing the decider, which the British rider won.

Australian world championship silver medallists Georgia Baker and Alex Manly finished ninth in the madison, won by Italy ahead of Great Britain and the Netherlands.

Also on Friday at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome outside Paris, Australian Kristina Clonan made an encouraging start in the women’s sprint.

Clonan qualified 11th-fastest in 10.310 seconds, with German Lea Friedrich becoming the latest rider to set a world record at the super-fast velodrome when she posted 10.029.

The Australian then showed impressive track craft in her Olympic debut to beat Dutch rider Steffie van der Peet and progress to the second round, also to be held in the Friday night session.

Paddlers take ‘dirty gold’

Australian paddlers Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen will leave Paris with bronze, unable to repeat their Olympic heroics in the men’s K2 event.

The pair won the title in Tokyo, however the 1000m event was replaced by a 500m race for the 2024 Games.

Despite smashing a 20-year-old Olympic record in the semi-final earlier on Friday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Green and van der Westhuyzen couldn’t catch Germany’s Max Lemke and Jacob Schopf in the medal race and crossed the line third.

Hungary’s Sandor Totka and Bence Nadas won silver.

If the Australians were able to repeat their semi-final time of one minute 26.85 seconds in the medal race, they would have taken gold.

“Winning an Olympic medal is so special so we’re stoked with that but of course we’re going to be disappointed,” said 25-year-old van der Westhuyzen.

“We really thought we were capable for a gold medal but all of the crews on the start line think they’re capable of that as well.

“We would have loved to come here and get the gold again but we’ll live to fight another day and coming back home with the dirty gold isn’t too bad.”

Aware of the fast start required to win the explosive sprint race, the Australians have made it a focus since Tokyo.

But Green felt he got their rhythm wrong, which cost them the crown with Germany leading from start to finish.

“I kind of screwed up the start quite a bit, just not what were trying to do and not what we were hoping to do and I feel like if it did go to plan, I think it would be a different result,” said the 25-year-old Queenslander, who will also race in the K1 1000m on Saturday.

It’s the third medal for the van der Westhuyzen brothers after Pierre, 20 won silver in the K4 500m crew on Thursday.

The pair both grew up in South Africa but relocated to Australia to chase their Olympic dream.

“We’ve got the full set (gold, silver and bronze) – I’m so, so happy for my little brother,” Jean said.

“I think that silver for me was as good as gold and I’m just so proud of him.”

In the women’s K2 500m on Friday New Zealand legend Lisa Carrington claimed her seventh Olympic gold, linking with Alica Hoskin.

Having being a part of the K4 Olympic champion crew a day earlier, the Kiwis again blew the field away to win by 2.11 seconds from Hungary, with a tie for bronze between Germany and a second Hungary crew.

Those three crews had a lengthy wait for a decision after a photo finish, with just 0.05 seconds splitting them all.

Australia’s Aly Bull and Ella Beere crossed the line in seventh.

—AAP