Mia Vallée’s 2023 has been filled with ups and downs. The Beaconsfield athlete was still able to finish it with an exclamation point on Sunday by winning the gold medal in the 3m springboard at the Senior National Diving Championships in Winnipeg, Manitoba, qualifying the same shot for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in February.
” It’s incredible ! It was an extremely difficult year, I put a lot of pressure on myself after my medals at the 2022 World Championships. I always compared myself to that performance and it became very difficult mentally. Everything fell into place this week, I had a lot of energy and I’m very happy,” said Mia Vallée from the outset.
“It’s the best way to end the year 2023! There were a lot of disappointments and I’m happy to finish with gold in the 3m here. I certainly wouldn’t have believed it two or three months ago. I see that the work done in training is working and I want to be even stronger in the future. »
Vallée set the tone from his first two dives of the final by collecting scores of 67.50 and 69.75 to climb to the top of the provisional general ranking. She was able to maintain this rank until the very end, becoming Canadian champion with 332.25 points.
The celebrations were double for Vallée who saw her synchro partner Pamela Ware finish on the second step of the podium (327.35 points), also securing her ticket to the World Championships.
“It’s an ideal scenario for both of us! I am very happy that Pamela also qualified for the worlds. We came really close to a medal in synchro at the World Championships last summer and this will be an opportunity to come back in Qatar,” confided Vallée.
It was the second gold medal for Mia Vallée in Winnipeg, who was also victorious on Friday in the 1m springboard, a decisive event in her conquest of the gold medal in the 3m.
“It was good at 1m, but it could have been even better. I realized I was extremely stressed and I didn’t want this to happen again today (Sunday) at 3m. I wanted to dive like it was practice and there was no pressure, it calmed me down! » she concluded.
Amélie-Laura Jasmin finished third with 317.60 points in the final.
It was not until the last two dives of the men’s 10m platform final that the Canadian champion in the discipline was determined. Ultimately, it was Quebecer Nathan Zsombor-Murray who emerged victorious, just ahead of Saskatchewanian Rylan Wiens.
Wiens started the final in good fashion, scoring solid scores of 96.00 and 101.75 in her first two entries into the water. However, things got complicated for him during his last two attempts. He finished the competition with a total of 472.60 points.
For his part, Zsombor-Murray followed Wiens in the standings since the very start of the final. Before his last jump, he wanted to give his all, while remaining conservative, given that a second place would also have qualified him for the World Championships.
His final dive earned him 76.80 points to bring his total to 478.35 points, en route to the top step of the podium.
“The goal was really to qualify for the World Championships. I am proud to have achieved this goal, but I think I could have done much better. Some dives were very difficult. I wanted to finish well by doing my last dive as best as possible,” explained the 20-year-old diver.
Zsombor-Murray and Wiens will therefore participate in the world championships in Qatar in February, both in singles and in synchro.
“Next year will be very intense with the Worlds and the Olympics. Rylan missed the World Championships due to injury last summer, so it will be really interesting to see what we can do together in synchro in February in Qatar,” he continued.
The bronze medal went to Benjamin Tessier who completed the final with 438.80 points.
The World Aquatics Championships will take place in Doha from February 2 to 18, 2024. The diving events will take place from February 2 to 10.
