Philippe Gagné finishes 11th in 3m springboard diving final
18-year-old Canadian finishes with score of 425.30
By Jonathan Rumley, CBC Sports
Canadian diver Philippe Gagné finished in 11th place in the three-metre springboard final on Tuesday.
The Montreal native, who turns 19 in October, ended the final with a score of 425.30 after six dives.
China's Yuan Cao pulled away from the field to win gold with a score of 547.60. Britain's Jack Laugher (523.85) and Patrick Hausding (498.90) finished second and third, respectively.
Gagné posted a score of 72.00 in his opening dive, followed by 63.55 and then 73.10 to put him in 10th after three rounds.
He scored 71.40 and 64.75 with his next two dives, before finishing his day with an 80.50.
For Gagné, just making the final in his Olympic debut was no easy feat, having overcome a slow start in the semifinals to qualify.
Gagné sat in second last place (16th overall) after the first round of Olympic dives in the semis. The 18-year-old diver from Ville de Mont-Royal, Que., posted a score of 63.00 in his first dive.
In his second attempt, the lone Canadian in the field performed slightly better to garner a result of 66.65.
Gagné took a massive step with his third dive to leap up the leaderboard. The youngster's dive received a score of 86.70, which was the second-best result of the round.
The teenager received a 66.30 for his fourth dive and made an impact with his fifth dive by receiving a score of 84.00, which only two competitors beat with their fifth attempts.
In his final dive, Gagné performed well enough to earn a result of 78.75 and punched a ticket for Canada in the final. The Quebec athlete's combined score of 445.40 was good enough for fifth overall.
Meanwhile, 2012 Olympic gold medallist Ilia Zakharov of Russia received a zero for his fourth dive after his performance went awry and resulted in a catastrophic belly flop. The 25-year-old finished last overall in the semifinal.